#but give freely and generously to those you kept out of your golden gates

[firefly-fez]

hank and john i love u, ur doing amazing sweetie but do u have any idea how hard it is to sound professional and respectable when im emailing charities about the p4a. i am trying so hard to make this sound like a lucrative promitional opportunity and then i have to say ‘worldsuck’ with a straight face. like its a great term and it captures the impossible persistent reality of suffering and injustice like no other but. buddy. it dont exactly have a professional flair. i am trying to establish myself as a humanitarian advocate and honestly nerdfighteria is, like, a genuinely good foundation for that kind of advocacy and volunteerism but it’s a little like i am trying to build on an admittedly very sturdy steel frame that also happens to have a million little smiley face stickers all over it. like. this isn’t technically impeding me but i am concerned im going to raise some eyebrows.

[angelofrainfrogs]

Essence of the Spirit (Ch. 1)

Fandoms: The Bartimaeus Trilogy and Lockwood & Co. (Crossover)

Description: During an assignment in the government archives, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty come across a scrying glass that’s a portal to another world—a world where Spirits aren’t made of magic and essence, but are the sorrowful souls of those dearly departed. However, before Nathaniel and Kitty can enlist the help of Lockwood and Co. to get home, they must convince the ghost-hunters they mean no harm—a task made difficult when it comes to the obviously unhuman Bartimaeus at their side.

Rating: K+

Genre: General/Humor

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25476073/chapters/61797229

A/N: This is a crossover I've been working on for quite a while, and I'm excited to finally share it! A few notes before you get started reading: This takes place in a “Nathaniel Lives" alternate ending to Ptolemy's Gate, meaning that Nathaniel survived the battle with Nouda. It's been a few years since then, so Nathaniel and Kitty are meant to be about 19-20 in this fic. Lockwood & Co. are fresh off the events of The Creeping Shadow when this fic takes place, but haven't been through the events of The Empty Grave. I love trying to combine the worlds of Jonathan Stroud, and I hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 1

Nathaniel shivered and crossed his arms tightly. His sweater did little to stave off the cold in the government vaults, and he’d been down there for hours.

“Ooh, it does feel a bit nippy in here, doesn’t it?”

Nathaniel glanced to his left and found Bartimaeus pretending to shiver along with him, wearing a puffy jacket so big it nearly swallowed up Ptolemy’s small frame serving as the djinni’s current guise. The magician rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well Bartimaeus wasn’t bothered by this insignificant amount of cold.

Bartimaeus met Nathaniel’s gaze and grinned. “Want me to light a fire? It would make the room nice and toasty!”

“Yes, and burn us all up in the process,” Kitty snapped from Nathaniel’s other side. She was bent over a large wooden box, busying herself with sifting through various items of unknown magical origin. She paused momentarily to glare at the djinni. “With all the documents in this stuffy room, one spark would light the whole place up in seconds.”

“No need to get tetchy; it was merely a suggestion!” Bartimaeus responded, sounding offended, making the puffy jacket disappear with a wave of his hand to reveal the jeans and grey t-shirt he’d dubbed his “modern” outfit underneath.

“It was a bad one, and you know it.” Kitty went back to rummaging around in the box. “Can either of you make yourselves useful and help me find this stupid thing? Nathaniel, remind me what we’re even looking for again?”

“Um, let me check,” Nathaniel replied, uncrossing his arms and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out an index card and read, “’A small, rounded grey disc.’ Be careful rooting around for it, though; supposedly those who have touched disc have… ‘disappeared?’” Nathaniel frowned. “If that’s the case, I don’t know why they’d leave it at the bottom of a box, lumped in with a bunch of other magical artifacts…”

“Why do humans make any of the decisions that they do?” Bartimaeus mused. He sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “5,000 years coming and going from this dreadful Earth, and I still haven’t the faintest idea.”

Nathaniel pointedly ignored him, silently reading over the index card again.

Two years after the Makepeace Incident, as the attempted overthrow of the government and subsequent near-takeover by magical spirits had become known, Nathaniel was fully resituated into his job as Information Minister. Once he’d recovered from his miraculous survival, there was talk of him moving up in the ranks, and even mention of him taking on the role of Prime Minister someday. But after everything he’d been through, Nathaniel realized he truly didn’t want the immeasurable power that came with leading an entire country. All he wanted was to have a stable job that kept him busy, with his newfound companion Kitty by his side.

Nathaniel never planned to see Bartimaeus again, figuring that after all the djinni had done for him and the world, he deserved a long rest. But, to his surprise, the time they spent bonded together (not to mention Kitty’s visit to the Other Place) had sparked a strange desire for Bartimaeus to want companionship from the two of them. Of course, until a way to freely move back and forth from the Other Place was discovered, Bartimaeus could only visit through a Summoning. So, the djinni agreed to be occasionally summoned to Earth by his familiar master under the strict condition that Nathaniel would release Bartimaeus whenever he wished.

This arrangement suited everyone just fine. Nathaniel had to admit that being so closely connected to the djinni’s essence created an irrevocable bond between them; he often felt as though a part of him was missing whenever Bartimaeus rested in the Other Place. There were so many things about Bartimaeus and Spirits in general that Nathaniel wanted to learn, and the snarky djinni was more than willing to divulge this information to him and Kitty in his own time. The trio still argued constantly, but their words were now only full of playful banter; a mutual understanding between them assured that no one truly wanted to hurt each other anymore.

It was during one of Bartimaeus’ visits that Nathaniel had been tasked to go down to the government vaults and locate an item of interest for Internal Affairs to review. Kitty wanted to help, and her new position in the government, as well as her close relationship with Nathaniel, allowed her to aid him with this task. While Kitty never wanted to be too embroiled in politics, she found success and a sense of worth as the official liaison between the members of Parliament and the common people. Nathaniel had been extremely vocal about Kitty’s efforts in helping take down Nouda, giving Kitty a notoriety that allowed her to have a hand in a lot more things than would normally be expected from her job title alone.

Thus, the trio found themselves down in the dusty government vaults. Kitty immediately set to work rifling through boxes upon their arrival and, seeing as she was on a mission, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus knew not to get in her way unless she asked for assistance.

“Wait, I might not need your help after all!” Kitty suddenly exclaimed. With a grunt of effort, she pushed herself back onto her feet. A circular object was clutched in her right hand, barely wider than the length of her palm. It was wrapped in a black cloth that had begun to fall off in one place, revealing an outer edge to the grey disc laced with an intricate pattern.

“Those are runes!” Nathaniel said excitedly, peering closely at the exposed edge. “Like from a summoning circle, but… off, somehow.”

“Interesting,” Bartimaeus agreed, his golden eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Kitty laid the disc on top of another box and carefully pulled the cloth away, revealing a scrying glass covered in strange markings on the outer circle. The three of them stared at the disc, trying to decipher what it was and, more importantly, what it was used for.

“It seems like a combination of runes for a typical summoning, some Ptolemaic markings of a reverse summoning circle, and…” Nathaniel wrinkled his nose in confusion, pointing to a symbol scratched near the edge of the disc. “…something else. I’m not sure what that symbol means. Bartimaeus, care to enlighten us?”

“What, that one?” Bartimaeus raised an eyebrow. “That’s the Greek word for ‘stay!’ Come on, Nat; this is kids’ stuff!”

“No, not that one!” Nathaniel jabbed his finger a little closer. “That one!”

“The Egyptian symbol for water?”

“No!”

“The Greek word for-”

“I can read Greek!” Nathaniel let out a growl of frustration. Bartimaeus knew just how to push his buttons, especially when he wasn’t in the mood for it. The slightly upward tilt of the djinni’s mouth made Nathaniel glare harder. “This symbol right here.”

For a second, dead silence filled the room. Nathaniel swiveled between Kitty and Bartimaeus’ shocked expressions, eventually casting his gaze downwards to where his index finger pressed firmly against the grey disc. Another beat of silence passed, and then Kitty began to shout.

Nathaniel couldn’t hear her words clearly, for his mind was solely focused on his hand currently being pulled into the center of the disc. The rest of his arm followed suit, flattening and twisting as if it were liquid being pulled down a drain. He felt only a numb tingling sensation, and for that he was grateful. If he was about to die, he’d rather it be fast and painless.

A tug on Nathaniel’s other hand made him glance back to find Bartimaeus clutched onto him with an iron grip. The djinni pulled as hard as he could, and this did cause Nathaniel much discomfort; he felt as though his arm might be ripped out of its socket. Kitty firmly grasped him around the waist and tried to aid Bartimaeus in moving Nathaniel away from the dangerous object.

But the pull of the disc was far stronger than the combination of a determined human and a powerful spirit. Before he could utter any poignant final words, the rest of Nathaniel’s body was sucked into the disc and the world went black around him.

***

When Nathaniel opened his eyes, his first thought was that the afterlife looked extremely dull. He’d expected white, pearly gates or some other fantastical sight, but the area he laid in was dark, dingy, and only marginally warmer than the government vaults. He felt a pressure upon him and turned his head to see Kitty laying on his back, arms still clamped tightly around his waist. Her eyes were shut, face twisted in an expression of fear and determination.

“Kitty?” Nathaniel said quietly. He made a move to stand and realized that Bartimaeus’ hand remained tightly around his own. The magician gave a small sigh of relief; if the djinni was present, it meant that Nathaniel was still alive. It also meant that they weren’t completely defenseless.

“It amazes me how you continue to do such stupid things after all this time,” Bartimaeus commented dryly, his eyes glowing in the dim light as he wrenched his hand back. His intense glare made Nathaniel grimace; he could tell Bartimaeus was legitimately upset with him.

“I agree, and we need to have a serious talk about that again… but that’s not our main concern right now,” Kitty said, disentangling herself from Nathaniel. Bartimaeus stood and held out his hands; Nathaniel grabbed one, Kitty took the other, and in one swift motion, the djinni pulled them both to their feet. As the trio examined their surroundings, they realized a rather startling fact:

They were not alone.

A pudgy boy sat at one of the desks that formed a semi-circle around the room. He had round spectacles, wide, bright blue eyes, and a pale-lipped mouth that hung open like a fish. His gaze swiveled to each member of the trio, trying to take them all in at once.

“Oh, uh… hello!” Nathaniel quickly regained his composure, straightening out his shirt and puffing himself up like a person with authority. He flashed a smile, but the boy simply stared. Nathaniel noted that he appeared to be in his mid-teens. The magician took a step forward and extended a hand. “We apologize for the intrusion but… we seem to have found ourselves here accidentally.”

“…I can see that,” the boy responded, slowly getting to his feet. The trio watched him intently as his eyes flickered to a door at the other end of the room. “And how exactly did you end up here?”

“Well…” Nathaniel trailed off, wondering how much he could reveal. His work within the government vaults was top secret and couldn’t be shared with just anyone he came across.

“Magic,” Bartimaeus said, and Nathaniel snapped his head towards him. The djinni wore an indecipherable expression, though Nathaniel could tell by his posture—arms crossed, hip jutting out slightly, eyes scanning the boy up and down—that Bartimaeus was sizing this kid up to determine how much of a threat he was.

“…Magic, huh?” The boy looked mildly offended as he removed his glasses and rubbed them furiously on the bottom of his sweatshirt. “Right. Well… I know someone who’s quite skilled in magic, so… I’m just going to pop upstairs and find him.”

The boy calmly repositioned his glasses onto his nose. Then, with a surprising burst of speed, he suddenly bolted for the door. Kitty took off after him, but the boy was already too far ahead of her and slammed the door in her face. Kitty smacked a fist against it with a growl of frustration, while Nathaniel looked at Bartimaeus questioningly.

“Why didn’t you go after him?!” he asked. The djinni shrugged.

“He’s just a human,” Bartimaeus responded. “Maybe he’s getting help, maybe he’s getting the authorities. If he causes trouble when he comes back, I’ll take care of him. Right now, our most important task is to try to find a way out of here. Since that disc was obviously a portal, I suggest we see if there’s a matching one somewhere in this room.”

Nathaniel pursed his lips but couldn’t argue with Bartimaeus’ logic. He glanced at Kitty, who had already busied herself with trying to pick the door lock with a hairpin pulled from one of her jacket pockets. Nathaniel sighed and turned back to Bartimaeus; with a nod, they began their search for a way home.

***

Read Chapter 1. (You are here.) 

[sonicfanj]

Sonic Ring Bond - THE EYES OF THE WORLD - Chapter 2

Well, so much for getting chapter 2 done quickly lol. I can't believe it's been a month already since I published chapter 1. I didn't mean to take that long and had honestly thought I was far faster than that. Well regardless, with my apologies for taking so long, here is chapter 2 at last!

Current Status: Done – Open Draft Draft No.: 2 Story Idea: SonicFanJ – Inspired by @cutegirlmayra​ Main Author: SonicFanJ Secondary Author(s): None Currently Story Expanding Author(s): None Currently Editor(s): None Currently – Open for feedback

Chapter Number: 2 Chapter Title: Under Glass Primary Chapter Author: SonicFanJ Secondary Chapter Author(s): None Currently Chapter Idea: SonicFanJ

Chapter Synopsis: Having escaped from Eggman thanks to a timely rescue by Mighty the Armadillo, Rosy recovers from Eggman’s concoction used to keep his living batteries docile and in top form. But she knows that he is hard at work on his latest scheme and it has little to do with her, but how can she convince everyone to care when they are all fretting over her?

-----

     High above the world drifting through the clouds, steam powered airships built around steel bodied balloons and covered in wings, sails, and propellers connected civilization across the skies. It was a far safer form of travel than by land when the unusual shifting nature of the world could have taken your path away from you in an instant, but even then Ring Gates were a necessity of life that even the flying vessels which came in all shapes and sizes took advantage of. There was one distinct exception though, one naturally affiliated with Checkpoint.

    The vessel was known as the Coral Cloud, which was no small wonder due to its coral color giving the myriad of great balloons housing no lesser number of research labs above the world like its drifting namesake. This vessel rarely made use of Ring Gates to travel as the number of Rings necessary for so large a vessel was impractical when those rings instead could be used to fuel the personal Ring Gate beacons of the Ring Gates used by Checkpoint sponsored adventurers.

    One such personal sized Ring Gate opened within a room full of countless blocks with glowing geometric lines adorning them like circuitry that floated freely above the wire mesh floor that barely separated Mighty as he flew through it from the pipes and conduit that filled most of the vessel. His shell assured the flooring would have to be replaced though as he crashed into it with his shell absorbing the impact as he shielded Rosy in his arms. It worried him when she did not respond but he had to protect her from Eggman before he could worry about her current state and shouted out. “You have to close the gate! Hurry, absorb the Rings!”

    The operator was used to adventurers coming in hot and threw a lever on the console they were manning. With a loud crackling of electricity, the room blacked out save for the light of the weird blocks shifting about and serving as the room’s ceiling. Soon, the golden motes of light left behind by an absorbed Ring drifted up like fireflies departing for the leaves of the forest. As the motes twinkled out the lights came back on and the lever groaned back into place with a loud thud signaling the success of if its efforts.

    “So, what’s today’s story?” the operated sought out the tale that made him work the emergency function of the console before him. He did not know how it worked but it was rarely a show that did not accompany a dire story. Today’s story would have to wait though when he realized that Mighty was supporting Rosy’s head and had her cradled in his arms as he sat up and tried to get her under him. Wasting no time, he worked the radio that had been set up on the console.

    “Sick bay! Get a stretcher to the to the Beacon Bay! Now!”

    The urgency in the operator’s voice left Rosy feeling guilty but there was nothing she could do about it. She had no control of her body despite being wide awake and could do nothing to comfort Mighty who was apologizing as he held her tight. “I shouldn’t have gathered Rings for the Ring Gate. I had finally caught up with you after seeing you jump into that gorge but thought I could gather them fast enough. I’m so sorry Rosy!”

    Mighty would have been glad to know that his voice was not lost on her, but he would have felt horrible knowing how bad she felt. Especially as her sleeping body seemed to find Mighty quite comfortable and worked to snuggle up against him. ‘I’m so glad my body is moving. It means I should be able to still move when it finally wakes up. But how long is that going to be. I can barely think… clearly.’

    It was difficult to put her thoughts into words and she wanted to pout, but her body continued to keep sleeping peacefully. It astounded her too considering how warm she felt, and even the medics agreed as they placed a bag of ice on her forehead as they laid her out on the stretcher they arrived with. Her body disagreed with the sudden chill though and she snapped into a tight ball with her quills going rigid to protect her from it. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she desperately wanted to cry out in apology. ‘I can’t do anything though.’

    Like Rosy, no one could really do anything about her while she was completely curled up, but they tried regardless poking and prodding her with brooms in an effort to at least get her out of the Beacon Bay. It was fortunate for the medics that she had curled into such a tight ball as it did make her easier to roll about. It was humiliating for Rosy though and she just wanted to cry. As she could not even see what was happening around her anymore from within her curled form, she turned her thoughts inward as well. Especially in light of Mighty still apologizing to her. “I really messed up Rosy. But I swear. I’ll figure something out. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

    ‘You don’t need to apologize Mighty. I messed up too. I got so excited I wasn’t even paying attention.’ Rosy’s thoughts were less words and more a vague picture in her conscious mind of what she wanted to convey. But there was also a lot there she did not want to focus on, but there was little else she could do.

    Messing up was something she knew she did the moment when Mighty said he had. She had seen more than enough seismic shifts that reshaped the face of the world on a regular basis to know what she had seen was wrong. The forest of giant mushrooms that was growing up out of the gulch was not normal. Sure, there were Rings appearing to mark the birth of a new land, but there was no sign of the tell-tale shimmer that it was a new land. It was like an existing land that had shoved itself through where there already was land. The cave where Rosy encountered Eggman was more proof of that as she recalled the pale green color compared to the rich soil hue of the earth the disrupted mine tunnels cut through. And then there was the Gaia Eye.

    ‘What was that anyway, and was it really asking me for help. Ooh~! I wish I could really think clearly right now…’

    “Really, what are were you guys thinking?” a familiar voice suddenly pulled Rosy from her thoughts. ‘Tails!’

    Though her mind was excited to hear the voice of her best friend and usual adventuring companion, her body continued sleeping away in a tight defensive ball. Her current position was also the focus of the far more aggravated fox boy with the two tails for which he was nicknamed. “Hedgehogs curl up when they feel threatened or endangered and you’ve been pushing her around with brooms. It’s no wonder she hasn’t uncurled. You’re going to have to make her feel safe and comfortable to coax her out of her defensive posture.”

    Exasperation laced Tails’ voice and Rosy felt bad for him having to deal with the trouble she was causing. Being Rosy’s friend though Tails was used to dealing with her and the trouble she got into on a regular enough basis and he already had a solution for dealing with her balled up form. ‘Pillows?’ Rosy could not help but ponder when she felt soft objects being piled down around her until she was buried by them. And they were so soft and comfortable that being buried by them seemed to get her body to final relax and uncurl.

    Finally uncurled Rosy was shortly after subjected to all manner of fretting over her but she would have to rely on her senses other than sight to figure out what was going on as her eyes had not opened again since she curled into a ball. It was frustrating and disorienting, but all the fussing over her prevented her from trying to sleep it off. Eggman’s chemical concoction coursing through her veins was not making it any easier as all of the stimulus drew her conscious mind’s attention to every little detail. She felt like it was all going to drive her mad and that she would be wide awake the entire time her body kept on sleeping, but she realized as she opened her eyes buried in a new nest of pillows that she must have fallen asleep at some point.

    “…hmmm, I don’t remember being put to bed…,” Rosy mumbled as her brain tried to line up with being awake again. Her memories in general since inhaling Eggman’s concoction had grown fairly fuzzy and seemed little more than fanciful daydreaming. “If I’m going to day daydream it should be about Sonic…”

    “Go back to sleep Rosy…,” Tails voice rose out of the pillows she was rather pleasantly buried in and Rosy pouted as she turned her head to look in the direction they came from. Sure enough, flopped on his belly on the edge of the nest was Tails, his white snout poking out from his orange furred face and pointed right at her. He seemed more than half asleep himself and Rosy pouted playfully at him before reaching out and scratching the top of the fox’s nose. “I slept all day already– oh!”

    “Wah~!”

    Thrown from the explosion of pillows into the air Tails rolled onto his back and bumped his head against the bed frame in the center of the small sleeping chamber. “Ow~,” he winced and clutched the back of his head with both hands. Wide awake now, Tails wanted an answer to his unpleasant waking “What was that for?”

    Looking up, Tails saw Rosy looking around pensively as she tried to figure out where she was, and he forgot his concerns in an instant.

    “Rosy!”

    “Ah! Tails!” It was awkward for Rosy being the one tackled in a huge embrace and she lost her balance and fell back into the disrupted nest of pillows. Clung to tightly by Tails she could not do anything about being knocked down and simply giggled. “Yep, it’s me, teehee. Sorry about scaring you.”

    Looking up from where he had buried his face into her Tails was greeted by Rosy sticking her tongue out playfully at him as she struggled to bring her head up to look at him. He frowned at her playfulness and soon turned his grip on her to his advantage and started tickling her with his tails. “Kya~! No! Don’t, please!”

    “It’s what you get for being so playful after everything you put me through, I heard everything from Mighty and can still hardly believe it.”

    “Ha ha ha… we can talk about it… ha ha ha… but please stop~!” Rosy struggled to talk and breath as she squirmed helplessly pinned by Tails. He did not seem willing to relent but a yellow fox girl propping herself up on her arms out of the disrupted nest of pillows and rubbing her sleepy eyes distracted him. “Oh, Zooey! Rosy’s awake!”

    “She is!” snapped to full consciousness instantly by Tails’ words Zooey turned her attention to Tails and Rosy and a confused look crossed her face. His face flushing, Tails let go of Rosy and snapped to his feet. She did not follow him as she gasped for air attempting to recover from his tickling. She still managed to greet Zooey breathlessly, however, “Hi Zooey, I’m back…”

    “Thank goodness,” Zooey sighed as she held a hand to her chest. Getting up she took a hold of Rosy’s hand and helped the hedgehog to her feet. “Everyone was so worried and it’s only getting worse.”

    “Worse?” Rosy tilted her head confused but a voice behind her made her turn her ears back before turning fully to see Mighty stretching off sleep himself in a chair against the wall. “It’s probably best we go talk to the Elder. I hope he’s awake. To be honest I don’t really know what time it is.”

-|-

    “Ah, I’m so glad to see you awake,” the elder offered Rosy a smile as she walked into his office flanked by Tails, Mighty, and Zooey.

“We all are Elder, but, there’s obviously bad news to share as well,” Mighty hung his head looking downcast as he chased away the opportunity for pleasantries.

Rosy did not like it one bit and turned to Mighty, excitedly bouncing up and down as she spoke.

    “That’s because Eggman is up to no good again! If I hadn’t broke my communicator during that big shift, I could have called everyone and we could have stopped him then and there.”

    “Please hold my dear,” The elder interrupted, holding a hand up from his cane and forcing the other to support all of his weight and hunched back unsteadily. Rosy dropped her arms to her side and looked at him curiously allowing him to return his other hand to his cane. “Eggman is a nefarious individual and while we adventurers of Checkpoint have foiled him before thanks mostly in part to Sonic, we are adventurers and not really trained to combat a threat like Eggman. Foiling Eggman is a task best left to the military, or at least that is what headquarters has decided on this matter.”

    “Huh?” Rosy rose her voice in question failing to realize that the others grew deathly silent and visibly uncomfortable at the mention of the military. “That doesn’t make sense. No one except for me even knows what Eggman was doing down there unless you actually heard Mighty.” Turning her gaze back to Mighty, Rosy finally picked up on the air in the room. “Mighty… Tails, Zooey? Um, what’s going on?”

    Reaching up with a finger Rosy scratched at her cheek with a nervous laugh but no one seemed willing to answer. No one even seemed willing to make eye contact with her and her tail and ears drooped at the heavy atmosphere.

    She did not like it one bit and wanted to cheer everyone up, but she had to know what was wrong and no one was talking. Pouting in defiance at the dreadful air she perked her ears and tail up and turned back to elder with her hands held up in tight balls.

    “What did Eggman do? I’ll never forgive him if he hurt the people of that town or was responsible for that shift. I didn’t think about it then but that wasn’t a normal shift. It was like one zone trying to rise up through another after it moved. I hope everyone is alright as that isn’t like any shift cities are built to handle.”

    “Please calm down my dear. There is little reason for you to fret over the town. As unprecedented as such a shift was the rescue teams were able to assure that no one was left in a bad spot. And though no member of this vessel is partaking, Checkpoint has deployed researchers to join those from other companies and governments to investigate this new type of shift.”

    “It won’t do any good without the Gaia Eye,” Rosy leaned forward emphatically while pressing her elbows against her body. The confusion on the elder’s face deepened Rosy’s pout and she leaned forward even further as she explained.

    “That’s what Eggman was after there! He says it’s an artifact comparable to the Chaos Emeralds and that it’ll let him control the world. I’m sure that’s what caused the shift and we need to get our hands on one to understand!”

    “Um, Rosy, what’s a Gaia Eye?” The meekness in Tails’ voice calmed Rosy down and she straitened back out and lowered her arms back to her side before facing Tails and his following statement. “I’ve never heard of one.”

    “Neither have I, “Mighty chimed in, though he continued to not look at Rosy directly. He was too busy realizing that he might have heard about it if he had not run off to gather Rings for a Ring Gate. “I really shouldn’t have left you there even for a moment Rosy. That was irresponsible, especially since I was only there in response to hearing that Checkpoint had lost your communicator’s signal. I was barely able to catch up at all with the way you were moving when I saw you jump into that gorge. And leaving you with Eggman…”

    “I’m fine Mighty,” Rosy spread her arms out wide before spinning around to show the whole room the truth of her words. “It’s my fault anyway for getting his attention. If I could have just stayed quiet, I could have snatched the Gaia Eye out from under his nose without a problem. Ooh~, Fang would be so disappointed in me messing up like that.”

    The mention of the rather infamous Fang the Sniper drew disappointed looks from Zooey and the Elder who were familiar of Rosy’s time in his company, but Tails interrupted before they could say anything as he was feeling ignored. “Rosy, I think you’re forgetting something.”

    “Ack!” Rosy exclaimed and stuck her tongue out as she scratched the back of her head. “I’m so sorry Tails.

    “Um,” Rosy paused to think while waving her hands at Tails in an attempt to get him to stop looking so displeased with her. “Well, I don’t really know what the Gaia Eye is either.”

    “Really?” Tails exclaimed looking at Rosy incredulously.

    “Well I had a dream about seven of them and Metal Sonic and then when everything was going on I kind of went looking for it. I found it too!” Rosy’s excitement was rising again with the wagging of her tail serving as a barometer of how excited she was. “Unfortunately, that meanie Eggman was looking for it too and he had so many robots with him. If I was as good as Sonic with his abilities, I wouldn’t have messed up so badly, I’m sure of it. I could have rescued all of the animals that he had trapped in those awful robots of his too.”

    “Eggman’s using animals in his machines again! You didn’t mention that Mighty” Tails could not believe his ears and turned his attention sharply to Mighty who looked just as surprised as Tails. Tails’ prior meekness seemed to have found its way to the armadillo though as he again grew more somber.

    “I didn’t hear that much,” Mighty admitted as he hung his head” When I saw Rosy pinned in by Eggman I knew I had to get enough Rings to make a Ring Gate to get us both out safely. When I got back Eggman was talking about the effect of his work on her. I was terrified I had let Rosy come under some serious harm and now with what the military has said…”

    “The military again,” Rosy harrumphed displeased. She had yet to learn why they were being brought up when Eggman was obviously causing lots of trouble and needed to be stopped which had proven to regularly be a task beyond the military. ‘Sonic wouldn’t wait for the military if he knew what was going on.’

    “Rosy, maybe you should sit down, and I’ll explain for the elder,” Rosy was pulled from her thoughts as Zooey placed her hands comfortingly and with guiding intent on her shoulders.

    “Oh my. Thank you so much Zooey. In fact, I think I’ll take a seat myself,” the elder seemed to disassociate himself from the ongoing commotion as he gladly left it to Zooey and took a seat much to the relief of his arms. He did not fully disengage though and watched almost apologetically stroking his long thin beard as Zooey sat Rosy in an available chair and stood in a way to not let Rosy back up.

    “Now, no one talked to me about this either so I’m not happy at all, but headquarters and the military are not being very cooperative,” Zooey began while bracing herself against the arms of the chair Rosy was seated in. She was allowing Rosy no room to act and leaned over her causing Rosy to sink back into the chair as she looked up. She flinched as she felt her quills pierce the fabric of the chair revealing how tense she was at Zooey’s intensity, but asides from taking one hair to brush back the lock of hair beside her face the fox gave her no relief as she continued.

    “Everything you just told us Rosy we had no idea about.”

    “Huh?” Rosy nearly squeaked as she instinctually pulled her legs in as the fox above her triggered her instinctual need to curl into a ball with the harsh look she gave her. “But Mighty said he missed that so why is that such a surprise. And why are you being so scary Zooey.”

    “Because Eggman declared to the world that you’re the key to his next plan for world domination and headquarters has agreed to hand you over to the military at their request to keep you out of Eggman’s hands!”

    “What!” Rosy wanted to spring up but Zooey’s position made sure she stayed pinned in the chair and she could only look around for an answer. Tails looked helpless and Mighty was obviously blaming himself silently, but the elder seemed to have maintained his calm and proved the source of information that Rosy needed.

    “It is as Zooey says my dear, but it is not a situation we of Checkpoint’s research division agree with. But,” the use of the qualifier shook the elder’s nerve as he used it and he had to force himself to speak as he continued,” we are in no position to refute headquarters. At this time the Coral Cloud is as physically far away from any land masses as is possible and is constantly adjusting its course to account for any ongoing shifts. You are effectively trapped here until the military’s airships arrive to retrieve you. And headquarters has also already sent numerous Ring hunters like yourself to the Coral Cloud to gather up any Rings that may appear and prevent you from making a Ring Gate to escape.”

    “No way! I don’t understand at all!”

    “Rosy…,” Tails weakly spoke up getting her attention. Rubbing his upper arm Tails forced himself to look at Rosy and her questioning eyes. “When Eggman made his announcement he was pretty adamant about declaring that he had made a breakthrough in his research and that you would be the key to completing it and how he would enjoy picking apart anyone who would try to stop him. Normally I’d agree that Eggman making such a claim sounds pretty wild, but the military knows about the compound you were under the effects of and hearing Mighty explain it…”

    “So what, I’m going to be locked up and let Eggman run around hunting for the Gaia Eyes as he pleases?” The question spilt quickly out of Rosy’s lips but the looks everyone gave her told her there was not anything they could do about it. Naturally she puffed her cheeks up defiantly as she wasn’t going to stand for that. “Don’t you see Eggman’s just using me as a distraction? The Gaia Eyes–”

    “Rosy,” the matter-of-fact tone from Zooey quieted Rosy and she looked up at Zooey wearily. The fox’s features had softened to one of concern though which only made Rosy grow more timid under the fox. “Even if you are just a distraction to Eggman’s bigger plan, the Gaia thing you’re talking about hasn’t been mentioned by anyone but you. But the effects of Eggman’s terrible concotion on you was seen by everyone here.”

    “She’s right Rosy,” Tails supported Zooey from afar as he rubbed his foot into the ground and pressed his index fingers together. “Sonic and I knew about that formula since we first traveled together on West Side Island. In fact, Eggman had a whole chemical plant just for producing the stuff, but we didn’t think about it because we could swim through the stuff and weren’t affected. But Rosy, you’re the first sapient anything to be affected by it. With Eggman’s genius if he got his hands on you he could figure out how to make it work on everyone.”

    “But Tails, I’m not Eggman’s only goal,” Rosy attempted to make him understand. But the words she chose next doomed her attempts. “He wants to use the Gaia Eyes, and I just know they were asking me for help!”

    It did not even take a moment. The atmosphere of disbelief that filled the room was crushing and Rosy found herself just waiting to hear someone call her fortunetelling silly. Not wanting to hear that she finally just curled up into a ball and stiffened her quills as much as possible, regardless of the damage she would cause to the chair. Curling up did not keep her head out of her memories however and she couldn’t help but think about how Fang took her fortunetelling seriously. To him it was a gift and not just a silly hobby and that had at last opened up the world to her. She knew there was more to the world than just the Rings and the Time Stones, Chaos Emeralds, and Chaos Rings all proved it, yet still no one believed her.

    Too frustrated to stay where she was waiting, Rosy attempted to rev up a Spin Dash and managed to scare Zooey just enough to back off and give her room to escape. Not wasting it she shot off in her sloppy and clumsy attempt like a rocket back out of the Elder’s room knocking the chair over in the process. The elder could not help himself but sigh as he looked at the chair.” I suppose it was only natural she would not take too well to the situation.”

    “Do you think…,” Mighty started as he was conflicted between chasing after Rosy and picking up the chair.

    “If you chase after her thinking she needs comforted you’re not going to do her any good Mighty,” Tails resolved both of Mighty’s dilemmas with his words and as he personally picked up the chair and helped Zooey back to her feet. “I know she’s upset, but she doesn’t dwell on stuff like that. Next time you see her I can guarantee you she’ll be wearing an honest smile.”

    “Then what is she doing?” genuinely wanting to know, Mighty attempted to coax an answer out of Tails who simply smiled. “Just whatever she can. I already can guess where she’s going, but since this is her first time on the Coral Cloud, I’ll have to occupy myself while I wait for her.”

    While the others were off balance from Rosy’s display, Tails wore a strangely relieved smile. Noticing everyone else he laughed slightly and offered an explanation. “Trust me, she’s fine. Actually, she’s doing better than I thought she would be after her experience. So, don’t worry about her, okay. Besides, I’m sure I can calm her down a little.”

    “Wait up Tails!” Zooey called after Tails as he left and had to chase after him leaving Mighty alone with the elder.

    “Would it be too much if I asked?” the elder inquired trying to be respectful of the armadillo’s position. Having a guess at how things were starting to go Mighty smiled, even if there was a sardonic air about him.

    “I did promise I’d look after them, and considering our world… well it helps to have an experienced adventurer watching their backs who is a bit more responsible than his own best friend.” Mighty’s playful jab at Sonic was as much a sore spot he had with Sonic sharing his abilities with Tails and Rosy without watching over them as much as it was him pondering what Sonic was up to after Eggman’s announcement. He could not linger on Sonic though as Rosy was the current matter of importance.

    Zooey felt the same way as Mighty and when she caught up with Tails, who had fortunately heard her in time for it not to be too long of a trip, took his hand in hers and leaned her forehead against his for support.

    “Z-Zooey!” he squeaked in surprise as she took a moment to catch her breath. There was a growing bond between them and most everyone in Checkpoint knew about it. Their bond was not the joke though, but rather the bad luck the two of them had as almost every time they might have had a quiet moment together an emergency was sure to interrupt it. Tails did not want to think about that right now all things considered but it was where Zooey’s mind was.

    “Promise me you’ll get the both of you back safely,” Zooey demanded of Tails as she finally straightened up and looked him in the eyes. Before Tails could offer a logical argument, she held up a finger and pressed it to his lips to hush him. “And I know she shouldn’t be able to go anywhere. She should be trapped here. But you know she got onto Little Planet before she met Sonic and that should have been far more impossible than getting off the Coral Cloud safely. And maybe her love of fortunetelling is starting to rub off on me because I can’t help but feel like you two are about to go off on a big adventure and that I won’t be able to help you this time. I’m supposed to be your agent and mediating for you and parties with interest in your activities, but this time I feel so useless and like I can’t do anything. I won’t even be able to work on the X-Tornado or any other aircraft until Rosy is in the military’s hands. But I know you don’t want that either, and if she feels like someone needs her help…”

    Zooey didn’t seem to have the strength left to express her concerns and closed her eyes with a sigh, resting her forehead against Tails’ own again. His mouth hanging open a moment as he was unsure what to do, Tails took a note from Rosy’s book and tried to cheer her up.

    “It’s fine Zooey,” he began as he gently took her hand from his lips with his free hand, “we have our Ring Bond with Sonic so it’s like he’s always there for us. No matter what happens, I’m sure we’ll all be together again just fine.”

    “Do you mean it?” Zooey asked, coyly opening her eyes to gaze at him.

    “I-it’s a promise!” Tails answered too excitedly, breaking the tenderness of the moment and having to escape for his own sense of control.

    Zooey was not upset by Tails’ panic though as it was better if they at least controlled when they parted, and he did promise her. ‘Make sure you keep it please, Tails.’

-|-

    “Ooh~! I should be able to find things faster with Sonic’s speed, but all I’m doing is getting lost fast!” With a heavy sigh Rosy blew her bangs up as she skidded to a stop surprising several researchers and adventurers patrolling for Rings. She was not worried about them and seeing her they went about their business no longer surprised. “Maybe here, it looks like it was big enough from outside and not just another balloon. Why don’t they label these rooms with more than numbers?”

    Puffing up her cheeks Rosy pushed open the double doors and was promptly surprised by a familiar voice. “About time you got here Rosy. I was starting to think I’d have to find you before the military’s ships get here.”

    “Tails!” Rosy shouted in surprise and looked across the library she had walked into. He was surrounded by books and had a sheaf of papers beside him which he had been systematically scrawling out notes on. Zipping across the library Rosy glanced at the notes for only a moment before turning to Tails. “Have you found anything?”

    “Not really anything substantial,” Tails confided in her while trying to hide a knowing and grateful smile that he really did know her so well and that she knew it. “Though, if what I’m reading here is right, the term ‘Gaia’ is affiliated with a long-gone ancient civilization. They may even be older then when echidnas were still around.”

    “Wow~!” Rosy’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as she took in that information. “So even Knuckles wouldn’t know, would he?”

    “Not likely,” Tails agreed as he continued his research. “But ever since Sonic saved the world from the Black Ring we haven’t seen him and Angel Island isn’t believed to be stationary anymore. I don’t know what really happened, but the world has definitely not been the same.”

    “Well not all of it,” Rosy countered tracing a finger along Tails’ notes and trying to glean anything from them. “A lot of the world didn’t change. I was so surprised because I thought Sonic had to use the Rings and Chaos Emeralds to restore everything, but then it turned out there were whole cities and known landmasses that just weren’t part of the world when Eggman nearly wiped everything out. It’s so confusing I don’t know what to think. How can there be no landmasses left in the world yet there were plenty that weren’t affected and were perfectly fine?”

    “Well, if my quick skimming is correct, Gaia theorist would attribute that to the Gaia Theory. The existence of sub dimensions like how Sonic forms his Ring Bond with the Chaos Emeralds or how South Island drifted on the sea independently from the normal seismic shifts supports it too. A lot of Ring researchers normally discard it out of hand, but since the Black Ring incident it’s been quickly gaining ground again in the scientific community.”

    “And you learned all that while I was running around just trying to find the library? That’s amazing Tails!” Rosy couldn’t help but gush at Tails but he laughed and scratched the back of head finally looking away from the books he had surrounded himself with.

    “Actually, it’s something I’ve been getting involved with since learning that our world is more complicated than I thought. I actually didn’t make the connection at first but while I was on my way over thinking about what you called the object Eggman is after it reminded me of a professor I know and his field of research.”

    “Really~?” the question playfully fell from Rosy’s lips as she started studying the spines of the books. Tracing her finger along them she carefully made note of the most prolific name as she teased Tails. “If you know a professor you should have just contacted them and asked. It would have saved you a lot of time. I know you prefer machines anyway to ancient cultures. Well, unless they have ancient machines!”

    “I would have missed you if I had,” Tails frowned at Rosy’s playfulness and simply received a giggle for his trouble. Not wanting to fight he returned his attention to the books he was working through. “Besides that, I’d need the captain’s permission to make any outgoing radio calls. Considering you’re currently supposed to have a top-secret location it’d be risky to make a call asking about something Eggman is looking into. It could give you away and get everyone here attacked by Eggman.”

    A nervous laugh escaped Rosy as she was faced with the obvious truth. “That would be bad huh. Ooh~! Why does Eggman have to be after me too?”

    “You haven’t already forgotten have you?” Tails joked as he tried to lighten the mood. Rosy simply puffed up her cheeks at him unappreciative of his efforts and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on Rosy, it was just a joke.”

    “A mean one too.

    “Anyway, forget about all of that, what about this professor you know?” Deftly shifting the conversation, Rosy kept her finger on the name of one particular professor she had seen on more books than any other.

    “He’s a really great guy,” Tails smiled as he answered. “A little weird at times but he knows an awful lot about anything and everything related to the Gaia Theory. I was hoping I might find mention of the Gaia Eyes in the books we have here from him, but most everything here is related to major archeological finds and nothing theoretical.”

    “But you’ve taken so many notes already,” Rosy mused as she dropped her finger from the name Prof. Dillon Pickle and looked at Tails’ notes.

    “Oh, that’s just stuff for future research to see if I can find any relation between time periods and multi-dimensional awareness.”

    “Well I’m here now so why don’t we risk talking to Professor Pickle and get a move on stopping Eggman’s plans.”

    “Eh, wait! What! How did you–?” Tails fumbled for a response when Rosy so casually called out the name of the professor he knew. His reaction was a dead giveaway that she was right, and she cutely smiled triumphantly.

    “Don’t worry about that Tails, Eggman being stopped is more important. Let’s go,” Rosy insisted as she took hold of Tails’ arm and tried to pull him from his seat and notes.

    It was a vain effort as even successfully pulling Tails from his seat did not underscore her ignorance of the Coral Cloud’s layout. Tails was not fond of the idea of using the ship’s radio either for a personal conversation and they soon found themselves in Tails’ private quarters, which turned out to be the small cell of a room where Rosy woke up.

    “Aw, how sweet, keeping me safe with you,” Rosy swayed back and forth happily as the realization dawned on her. “You really are the best Tails!”

    “Only the best for the best,” Tails countered as he fished around under his bed.

    Nothing brought a smile to Rosy’s face like Tails’ friendship and she was eternally grateful to have met him. Watching him fuss about under his bed though with his tails swishing about from the effort piqued her curiosity. Poking a finger into her cheek she leaned over sideways to try and get a better look and ended up flipping sideways out of the way as Tails suddenly popped out from under his bed and rolled backwards into the wall. “Ah! Tails, are you okay!”

    “I’m fine… I think,” Tails groaned and rubbed the back of his head. Rosy was already on top of him though and ready to help him to his feet even as she picked up the odd briefcase like object that joined him. “I really need to cushion everything in here if I keep hitting my head.”

    “Well you have plenty of pillows in here right now,” Rosy laughed as she looked away from Tails to the other side of the bed where the nest of pillows still lay heavily disturbed.

    “I do for now at least,” Tails agreed as he accepted Rosy’s help to his feet. As she was holding the odd case, he had to do most of the work getting up, but Amy’s distraction resulted in her not being a good anchor and he accidently pulled her down on top of him. “Wah– KYA~!”

    “Rosy!”

    The tumbled heap they fell in was enough to surprise anyone, but Rosy’s sudden scream was one of obvious pain and Tails scrambled out from under her in a hurry. Left on her knees Rosy tightly grasped her shoulder and worried Tails all the more as there was no way the case should have hit her shoulder. Kneeling next to her he reached out for her and she twisted away from him.

    “Rosy? What’s the matter?” Tails attempt to inquire but Rosy couldn’t answer as she was biting her lip while trying her best to hold back tears of pain. His brow furrowing in concern Tails dove across Rosy’s lap and snagged her injured arm by the wrist making her yelp in response. “I’m sorry, but if you’re going to act like this.

    “What in the…?” Through a complicated mixture of tackling and grappling Rosy, Tails stared astonished at how red the skin of her shoulder was as he managed to push up her shoulder puff into a squished mess. “What is this from,” Tails pressed for further answers gingerly touching Rosy’s shoulder and making her wince and being surprised himself, “and why is it so cold?”

    “Ghh~ Tails, that hurts, please let me go,” Rosy pleaded as Tails turned out to have quite the advantage not only due to his two tails but also his work as a tinkering engineer in odd places. Unfortunately for her he had no intention of letting her go yet.

    “I did apologize in advance for having to be rough with you, it’s the only way to deal with you when you get like this. You’re great at taking care of others, but when it comes to yourself you couldn’t be more neglectful.”

    Tails’ callout cut deep and Rosy simply did her best to look away unable to escape Tails hold. As she was not being helpful Tails could not keep himself from sighing. Studying the shoulder puff of her leotard it did not appear to be damaged or even cold like her inflamed shoulder. Which meant the source of the injury… “No, wait Tails.”

    Rosy’s pleading fell on deaf ears as Tails reached up into her shoulder puff and found her deck of tarot cards. Extracting the case that held the deck he looked it over for a moment, but it was warm as far as he could tell except for where it would have been pressed against Rosy’s shoulder. Curious, and ignoring Rosy’s pleading and attempts to break his impressive hold on her he popped off the lid with his thumb and revealed the cards within. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Rosy’s squirming jerked Tails enough to knock the cards free and several fell onto Rosy’s bare arm and legs.

    “KYA~! AH~ OW~! ACK! I’m sorry!” Rosy was practically crying and in tears as the cards touched her and streams of vapor rose up from the temperature difference that as far as Tails could tell didn’t exist. Rosy scrambled backward and very nearly curled up into a ball as Tails let her go to study her cards and gave her a quizzical look.

    “Rosy, what exactly is going on?” He held up one of her cards just fine and unaffected by the cold Rosy experienced, but the redness on her showed an obvious affect of touching them on her. Rosy wasn’t answering however and Tails sighed as he pressed her again. “Rosy.”

    “But you always call it unscientific,” Rosy lead with a counterpoint to answering as she puffed up her cheeks in a desperate bid to fight back the pain and cold.

    “Rosy,” Tails began with another sigh, “I just saw your cards freeze burn you and you’re worried about me calling it unscientific. If anything, let’s get you to sick bay and those burns treated before we worry about it being scientific or not.”

-|-

    A short while later found Rosy and Tails in a room full of hospital beds with only a white curtain keeping them separate from each other. Rosy sat on the bed obviously upset under the heap of blankets she was wrapped in. It was weird to Tails to see her good cheer gone and not replaced with a moment of bratiness. It was also unsettling but considering he had been experimenting on her but a few minutes before hand as the medics had her soaking in a warm bath to treat her burns it was little surprise.

    “I know saying sorry again won’t help, but I’m getting even more worried about you,” Tails began as he drew the curtain around the bed shut to provide them total privacy. Taking a seat on the bed beside Rosy he lifted a card from the case and felt Rosy’s eyes on him as her cheeks puffed up. “Besides, I’ve had enough time to go over the data already and it’s unquestionably a local reaction exclusive to you and your cards. I can’t say exactly what’s happening, but it’s a lot like the phenomenon with Rings where not everyone can see and interact with them. Except in this case it’s only affecting you.”

    “So? Rosy huffed, her temper obviously sizzling under the surface despite her best efforts to not be mad at Tails. She knew he was just trying to help but her cards had not even been so cold when she first experienced their temperature change.

    ‘I’m sure the Gaia Eyes are angry at me for wasting my time here.’ Rosy kept her thoughts to herself but it was obvious Tails wasn’t going to let her have her way as he returned the card to the case and placed it down on the bed between them.

    “What I’m trying to say Rosy is that while I can’t prove anything, there is definitely a phenomenon occurring,” Tails continued to try and get Rosy to open up. It wasn’t going to be easy either as the idea that was forming in his head since comparing the phenomenon to Ring phenomena meant he was going to have to ask her to let him experiment on her again and was afraid she wasn’t going to see him as better than Eggman. ‘Actually, she may see me as worse since Eggman’s compound didn’t hurt her any.’ Mentally shaking his head Tails attempted to continue again. “That there is a phenomenon and that I could get readings on it means that maybe something is trying to communicate with you.”

    “Not maybe Tails; is,” Rosy balked at Tails’ use of the word maybe. “Something is and it’s asking me for help. I can’t sit here and ignore it. The fact that it’s using my cards to get my attention again is proof that it knows it’s in danger. But I don’t know what to do stuck here before being handed over to the military to be locked up. What if they never let me out again Tails? I don’t want that!”

    “I don’t want that either,” Tails found himself uncomfortably trying to play the comforter for a change. Rosy looked at him pleadingly for an answer but nothing was coming to mind immediately until his eyes widened with realization. “Wait! Go back, go back!”

    “Go back? Rosy tilted her head, a hint of hope appearing in her eyes at Tail’ excitement.

    “What you just said about it getting your attention using your cards,” Tails continued insisted with almost no restraint. “What exactly did you say?”

    “I said that it’s using my cards again­–”

    “That’s it!” Tails jumped up and turned to look at Rosy head on. She was excited that Tails was excited and if he was not so focused on his train of thought he might have heard her tail thumping on the bed as she started to believe he had the answer she needed, but alas. “When was the first time? Tell me exactly what happened and what you did.”

    “Well…” Rosy began her account of the events that led her to the Gaia Eye and her confrontation with Eggman. When she finished Tails was holding his chin in thought and he seemed to be contemplating any number of possibilities. Rosy was feeling anxious though and pressed him to say something. “What do you think?”

    - ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ADVENTURER AMY ROSE, PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN DECK! REPEAT, ADVENTURER AMY ROSE PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN DECK! G.U.N. AIRSHIPS ARE WITHIN FIVE MINUTES RANGE AND ARE PREPARED TO RECEIVE YOU! ADVENTURER AMY ROSE, PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN DECK! –

    “Not now!” Tails shouted as the announcement echoed throughout the Coral Cloud. The dread in Rosy’s eyes sank his heart and he made up his mind to act. Pulling her leotard from where it hung on the wall above the head of the bed, he thrust it at her, “Here, get dressed!” before zipping out of the surrounded space shouting behind him,” I’ll be right back!”

    To a chorus of surprised shouts and other noises Rosy dressed herself as fast as she could and was barely ready for when Tails suddenly burst back in, his speed causing the currents to rush up to the ceiling. The dramatic wind that accompanied the fox revealed the chaos and confusion he caused in the sick bay and as Tails extended a hand towards Rosy she saw Mighty in the doorway. “Tails…”

    “Just follow my lead,” Tails insisted as his twin tails started spinning together like his own personal propeller. Keeping his feet rooted on the ground as he waited for Rosy to tentatively take his hand caused a windstorm in the sick bay which proved advantageous as Mighty could not approach through it. When Rosy finally did take his hand though she could barely get her own feet under her to use the speed that her Ring Bond with Sonic granted her. She did not have to though as Tails was out the open port hole opposite the main entrance of the sick bay with her in tow in an instant.

    “What are they thinking?” Mighty asked as he raced across the chaos engulfed sick bay to watch Tails soaring through the air with Rosy hanging on for dear life. Watching their course around the ship Mighty’s eyes widened in realization. “Don’t tell me he plans to use the Beacon Bay!”

    Not waiting a second to find out, Mighty raced off hoping to beat Tails to the Beacon Bay to talk him out of this madness. Thrown off balance by Tails’ sudden fierceness of action Rosy shouted above the rushing winds to get an answer herself to what he was thinking.

    “Tails, what are you doing? Oh no!” Rosy’s question gave way to concern as she saw the grim airships approaching the Coral Cloud were almost like a small fleet in number, her blue eyes seeing the late afternoon light reflecting off of the lenses of binoculars and spyglasses. “Tails, I think they see us!”

    “What a day for great flying weather,” Tails complained as he risked a look and spotted silver orbs equipped with machine guns fly out from the ships on gossamer bee like wings.

    “I didn’t know the military had robots! Rosy shouted before screaming as machine gun fire opened on them from the military airships. “Why are the shooting at us!”

    “I guess they figure it’d be better if you were dead than risk you getting into Eggman’s hands,” Tails grunted out his words through gritted teeth.

    Much as he could use his tails to keep up with Sonic he was an open target out in the clear sky and had to take cover against the Coral Cloud. The sparks of ricocheting bullets soon lit up the massive research dreadnaught and klaxons blared to life as the ship came under fire.

    “Tails!” Rosy cried out but Tails wasn’t going to let her care for others endanger her and practically yelled at her. “Don’t you dare let yourself give up Rosy! I have an idea, but you need to trust me!”

    Tails determination was a rare thing for Rosy to see and it inspired her to give her all which she signaled with a fierce nod of her head and puffing up her cheeks determinedly. Knowing he had her dedication to him getting her out of there he took the lead with her falling in beside him.

    “First we need to get to the other side of the Coral Cloud!” Tails attempted to explain as a number of the military machines flew out in front of him and Rosy and opened fire. Deftly dodging the warning shots Tails leapt up and with a quick swipe of his tails split one in half before stiffing his fur like hedgehog quills, curling into ball, and blasting through the other others. He had to as well since Rosy was too clumsy with her speed to transition into attacking so smoothly and nearly had run straight into the gun fire.

    “Thank you Tails,” Rosy shouted out her gratitude as he caught back up with her. “I keep practicing and I’m getting better, but...”

    “Don’t worry about it Rosy,” Tails brushed aside her coming complaint about her own ability. “It’s not your fault. Combat practice isn’t something you really get the chance to do normally. Now come on, we have to get out of the line of sight of their spotters. The military’s machines are radio controlled so they need a line of sight on us to use them.”

    “So, they are robots?”

    “Nothing near as advanced as Eggman’s though. They’re more like toys in comparison,” Tails finished his explanation as he and Rosy slid down the backside of one of the Coral Clouds main balloons.

    “At least Eggman’s look like toys,” Rosy pouted as Tails caught her so she wouldn’t fall off of the airship. “So where are we going anyway?”

    “The Ring Gate Beacon Bay.”

    “Huh? But Tails, we don’t have any Rings, and even if we did–”

    “Didn’t I ask you to trust me?” Tails interrupted as he placed Rosy down on an exterior catwalk.

    “Yeah,” Rosy nodded keeping her question to herself and putting her faith in Tails.

    “Right then come on, we need to hurry because the military is going to be crawling all over the place before long and those drones of theirs will be a danger to everyone!”

    Dashing off again propelled by his tails, Tails led Rosy as quickly as he could through the confusing structure of the airship. With Sonic’s speed at their disposal though it did not take them long to reach the Beacon Bay. They weren’t the first to arrive though and under the ceiling of shifting cubes Mighty stood waiting for them with a disappointed look on his face.

    “Tails, Rosy. I understand you’re afraid of what the military may do, but endangering everyone like this,” Mighty clenched a fist as he tried to get through to the young adventurers the consequences of their actions.

    “Mighty…” Rosy held a hand to her heart as she looked at Sonic’s best friend and felt the guilt building up inside her again. Tails was not going to stand for it though and positioned himself between Rosy and Mighty.

    “It’s not that simple Mighty,” Tails challenge quivered as he had to face the armadillo. He was peaceful by nature, but his strength was terrifying. Tails did not want to have to fight him. If he could just talk him down, which would be easier if he could get Rosy to worry about herself while other people were in danger. “I know it sounded crazy when Rosy said the Gaia Eyes asked her for help, but there really is a phenomenon that I’ve observed taking place around her. I don’t know the specifics, but if someone is in trouble because of Eggman…”

    “But Tails–”

    “No Mighty!” Rosy suddenly interrupted and clutched at her tarot cards hidden away in her shoulder puff and feeling the chill against her hand. “It’s not just me and everyone here. If Eggman gets his hands on the Gaia Eyes I just know it won’t be good!”

    “But if he gets his hands on you Rosy!”

    “Then help us Mighty so he can’t!” Rosy pleaded, a vulnerability in her voice she did not like having. She hated thinking that even with Sonic’s speed that she was little more than a damsel, but the current circumstances were beyond her control. But even then. Even then she knew she was the only one who could find the Gaia Eyes besides Eggman and that meant she had to risk herself and step up. She had to be a hero, even if she had to admit that she could not do it alone. “I know I’m being selfish, and I know everyone is going to be angry with me, but I know I’m the only one who can help the Gaia Eyes right now and they’re asking me for help! I can’t and won’t ignore them Mighty, not even by force. So if you’re really worried about me, and you believe that Eggman capturing me is a possibility that can endanger the world, then help me save the Gaia Eyes so you know I’ll be safe from Eggman!”

    Like Tails, Mighty was awed as Rosy’s determination came out and brushed away all her doubts and fears. Her eyes shone with it and she stood fast and unyielding. She was bristling with energy and it was easy to believe that she would let nothing stop her. But Mighty had seen her so helpless under the influence of Eggman’s concoction and knew her energy and determination alone would not be enough. But he was also sure that nothing else would stop her. Save the piloted machine gun armed piece of armor that came up behind her and Tails and leveled an arm mounted machine gun at them.

    In a flash Mighty took Tails and Rosy’s backs, his shell protecting them from the gunfire from the military contraption. “Guh! I can’t believe they would open fire without even a warning. What was wrong with a peaceful resolution?”

    Mighty’s answer came in the form of a series of the spherical drones flying into the Beacon Bay and opening fire on the three of them. Like before Tails was quick to act to take them down, but another wave could be heard fast approaching and attacking them exposed him to the steam powered armor.

    “I really would like a peaceful solution Tails!” Mighty yelled out as more gunfire bounced off his shell and the armor slowly entered the Beacon Bay with lumbering steps.

    “Right! It’s kind of a long shot though.” Tails shouted out his understanding and turned his attention to Rosy. “But Rosy, I don’t know anything about how you use your tarot cards, but if something is trying to communicate with you and can affect the world like you think, then you have to ask it to help you now! You can’t help it pinned down like this, and I think the Beacon Bay is the best place for it to exert its power! Just leave these guys to me and Mighty and ask it!”

    “You’re really going to ask me to get violent aren’t you Tails? You know how I feel about violence,” Mighty complained but he had already given in to the possibility. Right now, protecting Rosy like he had promised himself when he first met the Sonic influenced adventures in an Eggman trap before he forced them to join Checkpoint was his priority. Smiling, he nodded to her. “You’ll have to better explain everything to me when we get out of this Rosy.”

    “It’s a promise!” Rosy smiled before turning her back on Mighty and flopping to the ground making a ‘w’ with her legs.

    Trusting in Tails and Mighty, Rosy pulled out her tarot cards even as it felt like the cold from them was burning her fingertips through her gloves. “Ooh~ stop that! I’m trying to help but I’m stuck so you have to help me a little too. Please, if you can.” As she pleaded with the power that was being channeled through her cards, she carefully lay them out in a pattern on the ground before her doing her best to ignore the battle taking place around her. Tails and Mighty were doing their best and she had to do hers as well. “And so do you,” Rosy demanded of the power she was attempting to communicate with. And perhaps it heard.

    Darkness fell faster than a blink in the Beacon Bay as Rosy lay the last card of the spread down with power completely disappeared from the airship. The sounds of the drones lifelessly crashing to the ground and the groaning of the vessel as it started to lose altitude filled the air. Then a crackling sound buzzed and echoed through the air, the geometric lines of the cubes above coming alive with a black and purple light. It was unsettling as the dark light filled the room with a similar lit smoke and Rosy was sure she could see the shadows of strange creatures with glowing lines on their bodies dancing about in it. The sight left everyone speechless and chilled as it was nothing like they had ever seen before and seemed not of their world, but they were corrected by the golden shimmer of the tell-tale appearance of Rings and the golden motes of light signaling their arrival filled the room before coalescing before Rosy. With a flash of light a Ring Gate spun into being before her and power started to return to the Coral Cloud.

    “It worked!” Tails voice cut the unsettling silence along with the slowly returning hm of the airship in triumph! “I can’t believe it! I can’t wait until I can talk to the professor about this! This is like a whole new realm of knowledge about Rings and the world–”

    “Tails!” Rosy interrupted him with an urgent shout, already on her feet and her cards gathered and put away.

    “Right,” Tails laughed at himself flying down to join her and Mighty who strolled over wearily.

    “We don’t know where this gate is going to take us do we?” Mighty asked knowing it was a silly question.

    “Just like most Ring Gates then,” Rosy answered with a bright smile and the anticipation for adventure in her eyes. “But, this one we know will take us to a Gaia Eye! Let’s go save it from Eggman!”

    With a shout, Rosy threw a fist into the air and ran into the Ring Gate followed by Tails and Mighty.

CORAL CLOUD CLEARED

Chapter 2 – Under Glass, End

-----

And yay! It was a bit of a long one and Rosy was awfully moody at points, but I hope everyone enjoyed. I'm looking forward to your feedback in the comments. And remember, your comments fuel me to keep writing. The more comments the faster I'm sure I'll be XD And don't forget you can join the Sonic Ring Bond Discord as well to talk about all things Sonic Ring Bond here - https://discord.gg/aVjNUyG. Well, it's on to chapter 3 for me and I hope to see everyone then!

[zdbztumble]

“Jewel of the Seven Pokemon!” Chapter I

I’ve had the basic idea for this fic for over a year. It’s one part Fright Night (1985), one part Bram Stoker book, and one part standard BW episode! (And a little bit of Pokeshipping thrown in, because it’s me.)

With any luck, I’ll get this finished within the month of October, with the finale published on Halloween. That may prove unrealistic, but in any event, do enjoy the first entry in my first chaptered Pokefic!

(Also available on FF.Net and AO3)

---

“Joy!” Cilan cried. “Exquisite! Rapture!”

“Does he have to celebrate out loud?” Iris asked dryly. Ash had the feeling she was talking to herself, so he didn’t bother to answer. He was pretty excited himself – the detour back to Virbank City wasn’t something he’d been crazy about at first, but when Cilan told them that they could get into one of the real, working film studios, Ash was all for it. The studio was even one Ash had heard about growing up in Kanto – Worldwide Pictures, one of the biggest movie companies in the world, with a backlot tour that showed off all sorts of famous sets and live shows! Ash could still remember the big, glossy magazine his mom had shown him, loaded with photos of the tour. The linked-up tram cars, the Little Kalos set, the robot Sharpedo; it had all been there.

It wasn’t here now. As soon as they’d arrived, a nervous-looking kid in glasses was out by the gate, explaining to a disappointed crowd that the trams were down for repairs, and that the usual tour wouldn’t be possible.

“B-b-but don’t worry!” she stammered. “T-to make up f-f-for it, w-we’re offering w-walking tours! As long as you follow the y-yellow lines on the ground…”

“WALKING TOURS!?” Cilan threw himself at the attendant. “Do you mean to tell me that we can freely roam one of the most storied film studios in history!?”

“Y-yes – well, you can’t go just anywhere, but –”

But that was all Cilan had needed. He whisked Ash and Iris along into line, nearly tore the pack off Ash’s back looking for the money for tickets, and now led their way through the backlot of Worldwide Pictures on an absolutely beautiful day. It was cool but not cold, the sun was bright, the studio lot was full of excited fans following the yellow lines in small groups, and every now and again, they caught a glimpse of a costumed actor or camera crane being rushed inside one of the huge stages. Cilan kept up a running commentary on everything they passed. Ash understood about half of it.

“Do you see it, Ash?” said Cilan, throwing an arm around Ash as he pointed to a long tan building with a curved blue roof and open doors. “That is Stage 28. It was the first soundstage built in this region, nearly a hundred years ago!”

“Wow…it’s that old?” asked Ash. Movies weren’t something he usually thought about as having been around for that long. I don’t think I’ve even seen any movies older than my mom…

“Ash, Worldwide Pictures is the oldest of the major film companies in Unova!” said Cilan. “It was an innovator of the early days of cinema, the first to relocate to Virbank City from the east, and during the Golden Age of Virbank, it was the studio for mystery, thriller, and horror pictures.”

“Really? Awesome!” It had been forever since Ash had seen a horror movie. The last one was back in Sinnoh, the really weird Alto Marian one with all the bright colors that Dawn thought was so scary that –

A loud scream came from inside Stage 28, sending shivers down Ash’s spine and a frizz through Pikachu’s tail. “Ah,” said Cilan. “It seems such a film is under production as we speak!”

“You think?” asked Ash. Even with the doors open, it was hard to see anything inside the stage, and other than the scream, Ash couldn’t hear anything but a general busy murmur. And when the scream came again, it didn’t sound like something from a horror movie. It sounded excited.

At a third scream, Pikachu perked up. His left ear twitched, and he started to sniff the air. “Hmmm? What’s up, Pikachu?” Ash asked. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and scampered inside Stage 28. The yellow lines on the ground marked the stage as OK to enter, so Ash didn’t think twice about following.

When his eyes adjusted from the bright sun outside, he saw a massive set, an old-fashioned opera house with balconies, painted backdrops, gold decoration on red walls, and a huge brass chandelier. There was a film crew up on the opera stage, huddled around the camera as they quietly reviewed a script. The bigger crowd was in the seats, as a well-dressed man talked about the set – how it was almost as old as the soundstage itself, that it was originally made for some old movie based on an even older Kalosene book (Le fantôme de la tour Lumiose, or something like that – Ash couldn’t really understand it) and all the films it had been used in.

Pikachu sat on the armrest of one of the chairs in the row nearest to the stage doors, still sniffing. Ash wanted to help him find whatever it was he was looking for, but Ash couldn’t smell anything strange. He couldn’t really see anybody that well either; except for the guide, everyone had their backs to the door.

“…And three years later,” the guide was saying, “this set was used for the theatre scene in Blasko – The Un-dead.”

A member of the crowd jumped up. “OOH! That one’s my favorite!”

It was the same voice that had screamed earlier. Ash was right – it was excited. And it was familiar. With a happy cry of “Pikachupi!” Pikachu leapt from chair to chair until he reached the figure – a tall, scrawny girl in a sleeveless yellow hoodie, short shorts, and ginger hair pulled into a side ponytail.

“Pikachu!” she cried out as the Pokémon hopped into her arms and nestled into her neck. “Wha – where did you come from? Does this mean – oh, hi Ash!”

Ash gave a weak wave in reply. His head felt so dizzy that he couldn’t think of what else to do. Who would think he’d run into somebody from home in a giant movie studio in Unova – much less Misty?

POKEMON: BEST WISHES! “JEWEL OF THE SEVEN POKEMON!”

It really is a small world, thought Iris. They’d run into friends and rivals from Unova all through their journey; now, apparently, they were running into Ash’s friends from his home in Kanto. His best friend, even.

Iris wasn’t sure what to make of her yet. Pikachu obviously loved this girl; he hadn’t left her arms since she and Ash had come out of that old stage. Ash was lit up like the city lights too. He and his friend were chattering back and forth so much, Iris and Cilan still hadn’t had a chance to even give their names. They were somehow on the subject of how creaky the floorboards were in Ash’s room back home, when his mother would fix them, and how Misty was over there so much more often than Ash these days that maybe it should be considered her room (“Is not!” Ash insisted. “Is too!” Misty claimed.)

“So – you’re Misty, huh?” said Iris once they finally took a breath. “We’ve heard a lot about you.” You and five other people, she thought, but Misty’s name was the one that came up the most whenever Ash talked about his other traveling pals, her and some guy named Brock.

“That’s me!” Misty winked and struck a pose. “The world’s greatest beauty, and Water-type leader of the Cerulean City Gym!” Pikachu gave a happy cry of approval, one Iris couldn’t find it in her to match.

“‘World’s greatest beauty,’ huh?” she muttered. There’s a lot you could say about a claim like that… Axew’s snort told Iris that he agreed with her.

“And I know you two,” said Misty, with another wink. “You’re Iris, obviously – the future Dragon Master.”

“Oh – Ash said that?” Iris looked over at her friend, who shot her a cheeky grin. Iris covered her surprise with a pose of her own. “Well, at least he’s telling his friends back home the truth.”

Misty chuckled and turned to Cilan. “And that must make you –”

“Cilan, at your service!” he spun around and bowed. “Fellow Gym Leader, Pokémon Connoisseur, Film Connoisseur –”

“Annoying Connoisseur,” Iris cut in, and took some pleasure in watching Cilan deflate. Ash and Misty chuckled, then turned back to each other. “It’s great to see you again, Misty,” said Ash, for the third time since he’d brought her out. “But how’d you end up in Unova anyway?”

“There was a raffle in Cerulean City for a free trip to Worldwide Studios,” said Misty. “I wouldn’t have entered normally, but they made all my favorite monster movies. Blasko – the Undead, Creature from Heart Lake, Bride of the Sableye –”

Iris slapped a hand to her forehead. Great – another Film Connoisseur… “So you won?” she said, hoping to make a long story short.

A frown flickered across Misty’s face for the first time, but she nodded. “My sisters complained, of course, but I’m overdue for a vacation, and they agreed – eventually – to do their fair share and watch the Gym for a few days.”

“Sisters?” Iris asked.

“Misty’s three older sisters,” Ash explained. “They’re the –”

“They’re the internationally renowned water ballet act known as the Water Flowers of Cerulean City,” said Cilan, instantly recovered. “A popular attraction, though I’m afraid my brothers and I considered them a somewhat shallow taste when they last toured through Unova.”

“Shallow, huh?” Misty raised an eyebrow. “Well, those are my sisters you’re talking about…and they’re so shallow, they couldn’t make a puddle.” She laughed, and so did everyone else. “But forget about them – we’re here, at Worldwide Studios, and there’s so much to see before the autograph signing!”

“Autograph signing?” Iris, Ash, and Cilan all asked together, Pikachu and Axew chirping along.

“You didn’t know?” Misty seemed blown away by the thought. “Later this afternoon, on the set of his new movie, Bela Christopher is signing photos!”

“BELA CHRISTOPHER IS HERE!?” Even by Cilan’s standards, it was a ridiculous scream. He looked ready to faint, and Misty looked ready to jump the soundstage behind her.

“Who’s Bela Christopher?” asked Ash, and Iris was with him. She loved her some movies – even if she wasn’t a Connoisseur of them – and she’d never heard the name in her life.

“WHO’S BELA CHRISTOPHER!?” Misty and Cilan cried together. They looked to each other, as if they couldn’t believe the question, then rounded on Ash so quickly he took a step back. “Ash,” Misty sighed, “he’s only the greatest living star of horror and fantasy films around!”

“He’s a renowned Galarian actor and war veteran going into his fifth decade as a performer!” said Cilan.

“When Chisel Studios in Galar started remaking all the great monster movies, Bela Christopher played all of them,” said Misty. “He’s played Blasko the Vampire more times than anyone!”

“He also gave a fine turn as the great Galarian detective, Mycroft Abode!” said Cilan.

“He has a Bisharp that he uses in all his movies – it was great as the witch’s familiar in Pokémon Horror Center –”

“He’s an operatically trained singer whose albums cover everything from the great Alto Marian operas to heavy metal –”

“He just came back to horror films after a ten-year break with Reversal Mountain –”

“And he’s set to portray the evil wizard Saul of the Rainbow in the long-awaited adaptation of –”

“OK, OK, we get it!” Ash cried. He looked as exhausted as Iris felt. Was “he’s famous” not enough of an answer for these people?

“But that’s still hours away,” said Misty, instantly back into giddy mode. “And I haven’t even made it to the Little Kalos village yet. C’mon, Ash –” she set Pikachu up on her shoulder and linked arms with Ash – “I’ve still got so much to tell you! And you still haven’t told me what happened to that Victini you ran in to…” She led Ash down the studio road, heedless of his sputtering.

“Looks like we’ve picked up another kid,” Iris sighed, shaking her head. “Right?” She looked to Cilan; he still seemed worked into a frenzy. “Er – Cilan?”

“…How could I not have known Bela Christopher would be here signing autographs!?” He threw his hands to the sky and dropped to his knees. “The finest of all the Mycroft Abodes in cinema, and the only man to have played Mycroft’s brother too! There’s no time to lose – we must find out where that set is!” He sprang back up and took Iris by the hand.

“Shouldn’t we just follow Ash and MistyyyyIIIIEEE!” Iris screamed, led against all instinct down the studio street – in the opposite direction from their friends.

***

“Oof! How are you gonna get all this home to Cerulean City anyway?” Ash huffed.

“Don’t be silly, Ash.” Misty gave a dismissive wave of her hand before tossing another box onto the stack. “It’s only a few souvenirs.” That said souvenirs were piled tall enough that Misty couldn’t see Ash’s face anymore didn’t mean anything – that was all packaging. She’d make it fit her luggage when the time came.

“Now let’s see,” she said, taking a lick of her ice cream cone before offering Pikachu one in turn. “We’ve seen the Little Kalos village – I can’t believe how detailed that church façade was, it’s so convincing! – the live werecanroc make-up demonstration, the clock tower set, the Lure Hotel –”

“And we’ve been in every shop along the way,” Ash grunted. “C’mon, Misty – give me a break!”

“Relax, Ash,” Misty giggled. “We’re in the line for the autographs.” She was a little disappointed in how short the line was – they weren’t exactly first at the door, but she and Ash were pretty close for showing up just a few minutes before the set opened. The last classic horror convention Misty had attended in Kanto had a similarly slight turnout. It’s the same everywhere, thought Misty sadly. People just don’t appreciate the beauty in these things. It was Tentacool and Tentacruel all over again.

As soon as he heard they were in line, Ash dumped all the boxes off to the side, and made a big show of stretching and lurching over, as if in pain. Misty rolled her eyes. What a baby – they couldn’t have been that heavy. While he was bent forward, she gave him a thump to the back of the head. He whipped up and glared at her. She glared back. And, in a few seconds, they both broke down laughing.

“It’s great having you here, Misty,” said Ash, still chuckling. “It’s just like being back home.”

“Not exactly the same – Brock isn’t here.” The last word Misty had from Brock, he was settling in nicely at his school and looking into apprenticeships in Johto. “To tell you the truth, Ash, I was a little worried about you when I heard Brock wasn’t with you anymore.”

“Ah, c’mon.” Ash brushed his thumb across the bottom of his nose. “I can take care of myself. And besides, Iris and Cilan are with me here, and they’re great. Just wait ‘til you have some of Cilan’s cooking! Brock’s is still great, but –”

“I don’t know if I’ll have the time, Ash,” said Misty. “My trip’s only for the weekend, and just to see the studio. I have to go home tomorrow night.”

“Oh.” It was amazing how much of an open book Ash Ketchum could be. He almost literally deflated before Misty’s eyes. “That’s too bad…I miss hanging out with ya, Misty.”

Misty had long ago gotten over her doubts about Ash’s friendship. The chance of anything more set aside, she felt secure, knowing he was her best friend and she was his, and they could stay that way without a lot of words about it. That didn’t mean it wasn’t still nice to hear them now and again. “I miss you too, Ash,” she said. “I miss traveling. It’s great, being a Gym Leader – but I’d like to get back on the road sometimes.” Back home, the Cerulean Gym was in the middle of a top-to-bottom renovation, all on Misty’s initiative and design. It was tough work, consuming work – rewarding work. But not enough to stop Misty from taking Azurill up to the roof some nights to gaze out onto the bay, and the silvery horizon line in the moonlight.

And if traveling with Ash specifically had another appeal that she still hadn’t mentioned – well, what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Or us.

“Well…at least we’ve got the weekend,” said Ash, perking back up. “And we’ve gotta have a Pokémon battle, at least!”

“You’ve got it!” Misty flashed him a grin and pumped a fist. “Just you wait, Ash Ketchum – you’re gonna get blown away!”

“Oh yeah?” Ash titled the brim of his hat back. “You haven’t seen my –”

“Ash! Misty!” Ash’s friend Cilan was running towards them in a manic rush, with a flustered Iris and her Axew in tow behind. He barely skidded to a halt in time to avoid crashing into them (but couldn’t stop Iris from falling face-first onto the street.) “Have we missed it?”

“Nope!” Misty said brightly. “Three minutes to go!”

“I told you we should’ve just followed them,�� Iris grumbled as she picked herself up. Axew shot Cilan a dirty look before disappearing into his Trainer’s hair.

“So what’s this movie they’re making here?” Ash asked. He was on his toes, craning for a look at the still-closed stage doors.

“Jewel of the Seven Pokémon,” said Misty. “From the author of Blasko – The Un-dead. It’s the first time it’s ever been made into a movie!” Positive that Ash – and probably Iris – had no idea what the book was about, Misty started to explain. “It’s based on old legends about Yamask and Cofagrigus – that they were originally from a long-lost region far to the south. The hero is engaged, see, and his fiancée’s father is a famous professor who goes to that lost region and brings back seven Cofagrigus. They all keep together, circling around this giant ruby – ” Misty started to circle Ash, her hands held out and her fingers wiggling – “and the professor and his daughter figure out that the ruby belonged to an ancient princess that the Cofagrigus used to serve.

“They think the soul of the princess is trapped inside the jewel, see –” she placed her hands over Ash’s heart – “and even though the hero warns them it’s a bad idea, they set up this special ceremony under the right star on the right night of the year to enhance the power of the Cofagrigus and free the princess! And it works, but the princess possesses the fiancée, and she and the Cofagrigus start to tear the mansion apart! The hero and his Absol have to do – well, they don’t have a choice – but in the final scene, all the Cofagrigus are gone, the ruby and the professor vanish, and the hero’s left holding his fiancée’s body in his arms. It’s – ah!” Misty clasped a hand to her cheek. “It’s so romantic.”

“Romantic?” Ash frowned. “It sounds like everyone dies.”

“That’s a typical ending for the Gothic Romance genre, Ash,” said Cilan. Misty felt she didn’t need to taste his cooking to approve of Cilan as a good influence.

Not that Ash seemed to get it. “It still doesn’t sound romantic to me,” he said, crossing his arms. “Do they get together as ghosts?”

“No…”

“Then how’s the love stuff supposed to work?”

“You just don’t have the maturity and sophistication to understand, Ash,” Misty said, her nose turned up. “All the best love stories end in tragedy.” Well, all the best ones in fiction, anyway. Real life’s a different story…

“What, so if you got a boyfriend, you’d want him to die?” said Ash. His eyebrow was up, and there was a taunt in his voice.

“Oh, don’t spoil it!” Misty snapped. “I love that book, and it’ll be a great movie!”

“Sure, sure. Just don’t expect me to go with you.”

“Fine then – I’ll just take Pikachu!” Misty gave Ash’s starter a poke to the tummy, and he cooed happily.

“She couldn’t take either of them,” Misty heard Iris mutter to Cilan; she ignored her.

“And after we see the movie,” she told Ash, “I’ll use Pikachu against you in our Pokémon battle!” Just to play along, Pikachu nuzzled her face with his whole body, and wrapped his tail behind her head. Ash might’ve gotten whiny over that in the old days, but he just grinned, turned his cap back, and drew out a Poké Ball.

“Oh yeah?” he said, his voice suddenly much huskier than Misty remembered. “Well, let’s see you two traitors beat – THIS!”

The ball flew out, a bright light flashed, and there before Misty was a small Pokémon, barely taller than Pikachu, with a white face, an aqua body, a seashell perfectly positioned on its chest…

“…It’s so CUTE!” Misty swooped down to gather the Water-type in her arms. “Ash, how could you not tell me you had an Oshawott! Oh, it’s just the sweetest, most adorable little thing ever!” One look told Misty the love was mutual; Ash’s Oshawott had hearts in its eyes, and he threw his little paws around Misty’s neck.

“Well, Ash,” Misty giggled. “I guess that’s two of your Pokémon that like me best.”

“Aww…Oshawott!” Ash whined. Misty, both Ash’s Pokémon, Cilan, and Iris all laughed.

“Ah!” Cilan pointed toward the stage. “The doors open!” The large red doors slid to either side, still revealing nothing as the stage remained in shadow. A young man, dressed just like the guide from Stage 28, stepped out of the dark. His glasses were thick, his expression forlorn.

“Attention – attention, everyone!” he called to the slim crowd. “The production of Jewel of the Seven Pokémon has been indefinitely suspended, and the scheduled autograph signing is canceled.”

[tamilundauthor]

The conclusion to the Taming the Dragon series is finally here.

Okay, no it isn’t. Not quite. It’s up for pre-order, but the book doesn’t release until June 2nd, so… a few more weeks.

Almost there, though.

And if you’re a fan of the Taming the Dragon series, I’m guessing you’re chomping at the bit for this one, since the last book (Bewitching the Dragon) released last September!

Usually I can write books a lot faster than this. I mean, aside from the novellas I included in two box sets (the Dark Moon Falls box sets – second one just released last week!), I haven’t released a book in eight months. And it will be nine by the time Let Go My Gargoyle releases (barely). Shoot, last year I released a book almost every month.

Maybe that’s why this one took so long. I think I overtaxed myself. I was so busy letting everybody know about those books, I wasn’t writing new ones. Well, I was trying – I wrote and rewrote this particular book four different times. I made it to 20,000 words twice before scraping what I’d written. That’s half a book! Heck, the two novellas in the Dark Moon Falls sets are both only 25,000 words. The final version of Let Go My Gargoyled ended up at 45,000 words, but really, it’s double that in effort.

And you know what? I’m pleased. I’m happy with this final version. It’s completely different from where I started. The hero and heroine are entirely different characters, even. In two of the four versions, Argyle was the main character. In another, Oliver was. And ultimately, I went with two characters you haven’t met yet, however, they are both very much (surprisingly!) entwined with the overarching storyline that’s been brewing since book 1 (Dragon His Heels).

Anyway, I hope you’ll give it a read. I have a really hard time finishing series, which was another contributing factor to how long it took to type the words “The End” on this book. Because it really is the end.

OR is it…? (Because Argyle and Oliver still need their happy ever afters, and now I’m thinking maybe I need a spinoff Taming the Gargoyle series. Hmm….)

Okay, enough of that! Let’s give you what the headline promised: A sneak peek at Let Go My Gargoyle, before it’s released to the general public. So here you go. Enjoy!!

LET GO MY GARGOYLE

Taming the Dragon Book 5

by Tami Lund

Four years ago, Sofia had an affair with a gargoyle. The next morning, he disappeared—leaving her with an infant.

Now he’s back, and Sofia is afraid he wants to claim the child she’s been raising as her own.

Griffin isn’t back because he wants the child. What Sofia doesn’t know is that the kid isn’t even his. He’s back because his boss told him to protect Sofia and the baby. A task he doesn’t think he’s capable of doing.

Unfortunately, the more time he spends with Sofia and her adopted daughter Penelope, the less he wants to leave.

And the more danger he’s putting them in.

Taming the Dragon series

Each book has its own happily ever after; however, it is recommended they be read in the following order:

Dragon His Heels

Hungry Like a Dragon

Dragon in Denial

Bewitching the Dragon

Let Go My Gargoyle

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Chapter One

Why did the most prestigious of all gargoyle brethren have to be located in New Orleans, of all places?

“It’s a big town,” Griffin told himself as he strolled along the sidewalk, heading toward the City of the Dead, where he was supposed to meet his new boss, Oliver, at dusk. He glanced over his shoulder, his senses on high alert, but so far, he hadn’t come across any dragons.

Not that they weren’t here. In fact, this city was crawling with them. Or so it had seemed the last time he’d visited.

“I can’t believe I’m moving here,” he muttered, kicking at a clump of moss growing between two broken chunks of concrete.

A golden opportunity to join the elitist of the elite had been dropped into his lap, and all he could do was worry about running into someone from his past.

He paused next to a whitewashed stone pillar marking the entrance to the cemetery that was about to become his home for, oh, the rest of eternity.

Were these guys really so diehard that they lived as stone statues except when they were working assignments? Because Griffin would freely admit that he’d choose to sleep in a warm, comfy bed rather than perched atop a gravesite any day of the week.

Why had Oliver picked him of all the gargoyles all over the world? It was certainly the burning question of the night. And what happened if he didn’t succeed? This position was a life sentence. Did that mean Griffin would get to keep trying, again and again, until he got it right? For all of eternity?

Did that mean he’d technically never fail, ever again?

The sun dipped below the horizon and shadows stretched across the sidewalk, reaching like long, dark fingers across the aboveground burial sites.

Creepy AF.

Shaking off the willies and gripping the small duffle that contained all of his worldly possessions, Griffin threw back his shoulders and stepped into the cemetery just as the sound of footsteps hurrying down the path echoed in the dim remnants of daylight. He slipped to the side, ducking behind a massive oak tree draped with Spanish moss.

A human man strode past, heading toward the wrought iron gate, pulling it closed and threading the iron chain through the grates before snapping the lock and heading down the sidewalk, his footsteps gradually fading into nothingness.

Not that a locked gate mattered to a gargoyle. If his magic didn’t work to free him, he could, with relative ease, scale the wrought iron barrier. Or, better yet, shift into his leathery, winged body and simply fly over to the other side.

But, of course, the locks weren’t for him. That guy didn’t even know Griffin existed, at least outside of his stone form. Those locks kept the humans out after dark, which allowed the resident gargoyles to shift out of their stone forms and go about their days…er, nights.

“Okay, might as well get the initial meeting over with.” Even though he’d much rather head down to the quarter, have a drink, or twelve, and find a lovely lady to flirt with for the evening.

As long as the quarter was dragon free, at any rate. Which it probably wasn’t, so scratch that idea.

He strolled along the moss-covered path, meandering, not really trying very hard to find his new boss. He was reasonably confident the guy would find him eventually. Hell, Oliver had found him all the way up in Canada, so he shouldn’t have too much difficulty here on his home turf.

The air shifted, indicating magic was being used, and Griffin bristled.

But it was just another gargoyle. The man who transformed from a statue to tanned, surfer-looking dude and then hopped nimbly down to the sidewalk in front of him wasn’t just another gargoyle, no matter how laidback he appeared in his human form.

“Oliver.” Griffin nodded once and did not offer his hand to shake, as was the custom for gargoyles.

His new boss nodded in return. “You’ve arrived.”

“You didn’t expect me to?”

“Oh, I knew you’d come eventually. But yes, I was concerned that you might get…distracted on your way to town.”

Griffin lifted one shoulder, let it drop again. “I did delay, actually. I could have arrived three days ago. But I made a pitstop in Nashville and partied like it was 1999.”

One eyebrow lifted, but otherwise Oliver showed no emotion.

“So anyway, I’m here now.”

“I see that.”

Griffin stuffed his free hand into the front pocket of his jeans, even though he was probably supposed to stand at attention or something. Honestly, he didn’t know. He figured Oliver would put him through some sort of training regimen before he started helping to save the world. Or so he’d heard that was what Oliver’s gargoyles did.

“Come,” his new boss said, and he strode toward the closed gate.

Griffin hurried after him. “Where are we going?” That was it? That was his greeting? There wasn’t a whole lot of information in that greeting. In fact, there was none. Where was Griffin sleeping tonight? What was the training plan? Where were the other gargoyles he would be working with?

At the closed gate, Oliver reached through the slates and wrapped his hand around the lock. A moment later, the chain it was attached to slithered free and Oliver pushed the barred doors open. At his nod, Griffin stepped through, onto the sidewalk, and then Oliver replaced the lock and chain.

Without speaking, he began striding down the path running along the front of the cemetery. Griffin’s long, lean legs easily kept up. “Seriously. Where are we going?”

Griffin wasn’t a fan of surprises. He had no problem with whatever undoubtedly physically and mentally challenging preparations he was going to have to go through as a new member of Oliver’s team, so long as his boss told him what he was planning to do.

This silent walking—away from their home turf, by the way—was damned unnerving.

The farther they moved away from the City of the Dead, the more people they encountered, which also set Griffin on edge. There were definitely dragons here; he could sense them. He could see them. He could smell them. They didn’t smell bad—most of them, at any rate—but it was certainly distinct. They always seemed to have the faint scent of a campfire clinging to their skin.

He glanced around, checking out each face in turn, searching for one in particular—relieved each time he did not recognize the person who crossed his path. It wasn’t even Mardi Gras and this place was crowded with revelers. Griffin made a mental note to use his vacation time to get out of town during the Fat Tuesday celebrations.

Wait. He did get vacation time, right?

Everything he knew about this new gig could be summed up in a few sentences. It was a lifetime responsibility. Once someone joined Oliver’s brethren, they did not leave. There was no quitting, no retirement plan. The only other bit of information he knew was that relationships were strictly forbidden. No falling in love, no mating, no bearing offspring.

No problem.

That might have been the reason Griffin actually did show up today—well, and the fact that Oliver would have come after him at some point and demanded his presence. But that whole no falling in love, no bearing offspring rule held a lot of appeal for a guy like Griffin.

At the next block, Oliver hung a left and began walking away from the crowds, and Griffin let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Oliver finally stopped in front of a nondescript brick building with a fenced in patio that was bustling, probably because it was September and seventy degrees instead of ninety outside.

The place also reeked of dragons.

“Seriously?” Griffin burst out. “We’re going to a bar? And why this one?”

Oliver canted his head. “You seemed like you were getting nervous back there, where it was more crowded.”

It wasn’t the crowds, per se—okay, yeah, he wasn’t a fan of crowds in general—it was the chance of running into a dragon he knew. Rather, had made an acquaintance once, four years ago. But he’d not left a positive impression, and he’d really rather not have to face this particular dragon ever again.

“Why are we going to a bar anyway?” Griffin repeated.

Without answering, Oliver reached for the door and held it open. With a resigned sigh, Griffin stepped into the dim interior.

It was a small place, clean and simple. Miniature lights hung above the bar, and there were huge, framed shots from various New Orleans Saints football games on the exposed brick walls. Double doors leading out to the patio were wide open, giving him a glimpse of mismatched outdoor furniture, most of which was occupied by…dragons.

Everywhere he turned, there were dragons. Hell, there wasn’t even a witch or a human in the vicinity. No, wait, there was one. A witch, bellied up to the bar, putting back shots like she was in a competition with the dragon next to her.

“What is this, the dragons’ version of Cheers?” he muttered. He was still carrying his duffle, too, which made him even more self-conscious. Who the heck carried an overnight bag into a bar? He hunched his shoulder, as if that would somehow make him invisible.

It’s a big city, Griffin. The chances of running into one particular dragon…

Oliver snickered and clapped him on the back. “Outside or the bar?”

“Neither,” was what he wanted to say. Instead, he shrugged.

“Outside it is.” Oliver headed that way. “Might as well take advantage of the less than 100 percent humidity while we can.”

They stepped out onto the patio, and several dragons eyed them like they didn’t belong. Which they didn’t, not that Oliver seemed to notice. Or maybe he didn’t care. There wasn’t frostiness in those gazes, simply…curiosity.

Dragons and gargoyles didn’t often interact. They didn’t have a need to. Gargoyles existed to protect others, and there were few dragons who could not take care of themselves. Breathing fire was a handy trait to possess.

He followed Oliver to a brick firepit built into the center of the space—seriously? Did it even get cold enough in this town to warrant a fire?—and they claimed the remaining two unoccupied chairs.

A moment later, a waitress hurried through the door, balancing a tray full of drinks on one hand. She had bronze skin and dark hair that was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Her eyes were wide, almond-shaped, and surrounded by thick lashes. Her mouth was coated with shiny gloss. She wore a black T-shirt with the bar’s logo in gold stamped over her right breast, and jean shorts under a black apron. Her shapely legs went on for miles.

She was, in a word, gorgeous.

Griffin slouched in his seat and wished it were cold so that he were wearing a jacket and could attempt to hide in the collar. Because, son of a bitch, the very dragon he’d intended to avoid was about to ask him for his drink order.

“How about we go somewhere else?” he suggested to Oliver, who ignored him and lifted his hand to draw the server’s attention.

She nodded at him, and Griffin knew the second she realized he wasn’t a dragon, because her nostrils flared and her eyes widened. Then her attention shifted to the guy sitting next to Oliver.

To him.

Her mouth fell open and the tray slipped from its perch atop her palm and nine different alcoholic concoctions crashed to the cement.

The dragons closest to her jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by flying glass and liquid; a chorus of groans went up all around them.

Ignoring the mess at her feet, she stabbed her finger in Griffin’s direction and shouted, “You! Get the hell out of this bar. In fact, get the hell out of this city. No, the state. Get out! Now!” Her voice rose with each word.

Griffin scrambled to his feet and scooped up the duffle he’d dropped next to his chair. Oliver stood, and they both backed toward the gate that would deposit them out onto the sidewalk.

“Go!” she screamed.

Griffin practically fell over the swinging gate in his haste to get out of the vicinity before she started breathing fire at him.

Once they were well off premises, Oliver clapped him on the shoulder.

“I see you’ve already met your first assignment.”

Keep reading… well, on June 2nd! >>>> Let Go My Gargoyle

  Tami Lund writes contemporary and paranormal romance and clearly has a love of dragons. And gargoyles. Oh, and wine. Check out the rest of her books here: https://tamilund.com/

First Chapter: Sneak Peek! The conclusion to the Taming the Dragon series is finally here. Okay, no it isn't. Not quite.