Realm Sagas: Story 21: A Family Reunited By Chandra Rooney ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal stuff: Sonic & Knuckles, and all related characters are copy-right of Sega and Archie comics. KTE, and Bander are copy-right of KTE. Vampire Sephiroth is copy-right of Vampire Sephiroth. The Green Gibbon! is copy-right of GG! Adiemus & Kayla are copy-right of Adiemus Echemmyroo. Moon Echidna, Ashrire, Lirsage, Tonia, Leslie, Sailor Evil/Sailor Eclipse, and all other original realm sagas characters are copy-right of Chandra Rooney. All the characters and ideas presented are my own, unless otherwise noted. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One: Location: KTE's home realm. "Hold the cup steady, k.t.e.," Moon warned. She brushed a sliver dread away from her dark blue eyes. "We don't want to spill any." "I am! I'm holdin it real tight!" the five-year-old red echidna, with the brown hat, protested. Lirsage bent forward, a red-streaked dread falling forward, and emptied the last powder into the golden cup. He back up at her with dark brown eyes. "That's all of them. Now for what you brought, Moon." She nodded, and uncorked a water-sack. But instead of water, a golden liquid poured out. "There." She re-corked it. "Bander," Lir looked up. "Here's where you come in." The extremely tall red echidna stepped forward. "What do you need me to do?" "You're sure big, mista Bander!" k.t.e. commented. He laughed. "k.a.'s makin funny faces!" "Spit in the glass, Bander." Moon replied. "Ewwwwwwwww!" the other five-year-old echidna cried, his twilight blue eyes widened. "You right, k.a.! Gross!" k.t.e. added. Bander looked skeptical, but did it. "There. Mind telling me why I just did that?" "To seal the age." Lir replied. "The next closest to his proper age is Tonia, but she's almost two years older." Moon pulled out a quartz wand. "Okay, k.t.e. Now you get to stir it." He took the wand and began stirring the liquid. "This is fun!" Moon smiled, and nodded. She looked like she was whispering something as he stirred. "Okay, that's enough," Lir reached forward, and took the wand. "Now what?" Bander asked. "Drink it, k.t.e." "Ewwwwwww, but mista Bander spitted in it!" k.a. announced. k.t.e. sniffed the liquid. "It smells yummy." He drank it down greedily. "That's gross, k.t.e.!" k.a. cried. "You drank spitted in juice!" k.t.e. yawned "I feel sleepy." "That's the cue," Lir said. "Everyone move out. Let's give him a little privacy." "Sailor Evil," Vampire Sephiroth smiled, green eyes surprisingly warm. He brushed back his silver hair. "I have something for you." The silver-haired girl, with the dark blue eyes, looked up. Her scout uniform's primary color was black. Black scarf, skirt, bows, and boots. "What is it, Sephy?" she asked. He withdrew the black crystal he'd had the Green Gibbon! retrieve. "This." She made a face. "And just what is that?" "This is a Power Crystal that will increase your power a hundred-fold." He smiled. "Really?" she was impressed. She stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek. "Well, thank-you, Sephy." "You know how to use it?" "Oh, I'm sure I can figure it out." KTE came out of the hut a few minutes later. He was making a funny face. "I have the worst taste in my mouth..." "That's from the reversal spell," Lir handed him a water sack. "If you're feeling up to it, I and...my Dad want to talk to you." KTE drank the water. "Thanks. Hey Bander." Bander nodded. "Hey." "KTE," Lir repeated. "Now would be a good time." "You're sure in a rush," KTE muttered. "We need to get this handled. Then, we need to get onto other matters." "Jeez, why can't you ever just me a straight answer?" Lir growled slightly. "KTE, can you just come with me and talk to Dad? There's something we need to talk about." "All right." KTE muttered. "This way." Chapter Two: Lir took him to another hut, off deeper into the forest. "Dad lives away from the rest of the village. It's so he can come and go without getting hassled. I guess I picked up the habit." "That's your hut back there?" KTE asked. "But how could you live here...and I wouldn't know it? I'm gone a lot...but not that much. Surely I would've at least heard of you." "I'm gone a lot too," Lir answered. He knocked on the door, and waited until someone called "come in". David was looking up from a book when they walked in. "Ah, Lirsage, KTE. Please sit down, both of you." They did. "What's this about?" KTE asked. David murmured. "It has been a long time, KTE." "What do you mean?" he blinked. "I didn't think I'd find you again. If only your mother was alive to see you. She'd be proud of how you've grown up." "You knew my mother?" KTE sat up a little straighter. "How? Can you tell me about her?" David nodded. "She was a wonderful woman. Very intelligent, very kind. Very beautiful. She had the most soulful green eyes..." "Dad." Lir interrupted. "Hmm? Oh, sorry." He recollected his thoughts, and then continued. "What did they tell you about your parents, KTE?" "That they died when I was a baby," KTE replied. "And my teacher trained and raised me because I had no relatives. Why?" "Because that's not entirely true," David paused. "Your mother did die when you were a baby. She died after giving birth to you. Complications...or something. They never were really able to name a specific cause." "How do you know?" "Oh, I was there." "You were there the day I was born?" "Of course. Lirsage was there too. " KTE turned from David and looked at the silver echidna. "*You* were there?" Lir didn't reply. "But why?" KTE demanded of David. "Why wouldn't he be? He *is* your brother after all." Sailor Evil smiled down at the black crystal in her hands. "Now to see what this can do." She raised the crystal. "ECLIPSE CRYSTAL ACTIVATION!!" The green, two-tailed fox walked by the jail cell. "Okay, y'all. I'm the Green Gibbon! and it seems that I'll be watching you for the next couple of hours. I hope you provide me with some entertainment." One of the pink echidnas looked up. "Can we give you a make-over?" "Cool idea, Addy!" the other added. "A make-over?" GG! blinked. "Um, I don't know. Do you have a Princess Vi costume?" "A what?" Kayla asked. "A Princess Vi costume. You know, Princess Vi from Samurai Pizza Cats..." "Never heard of her." Addy replied. "In other words, you don't have one." GG! frowned. "Great. No one has a Princess Vi costume. There goes my fun for the night." "Let us out, and we can go find one." Kayla smiled. "Yeah, we know where one is," Addy added. "Okay," GG! replied. "What are you doing?" the tall green fox demanded, as he walked over. "Oh, hi Kit. I'm gonna let the girls out, and we're gonna go find a Princess Vi costume." "Vampire Sephiroth was right," Kit replied. "You are incompetent. I'll handle this watch. Go take a walk or something." The silver-haired girl opened dark blue eyes. She saw the mirror across from her and smiled coldly at her reflection. Her sailor scout outfit had changed. The gloves were now black, and came up past her elbows. The white part had gotten longer, and the black skirt was now trimmed with white. Her black scarf was also trimmed with white. The black bow on the back was larger. A black bow with long ribbons rested in her hair. "Not bad," she smiled again. "So, Sailor Eclipse walks the world again? It's about time. And now to get those other crystals..." Chapter Three: Sailor Eclipse strode into the Crystal Cave. "Come on out, Sailor Paradise. No use hiding from me. I know you're here." Sailor Paradise stepped into the light. "So, you've been returned, Sailor Eclipse. Gods help us all." She threw back her head and laughed. "No one can help you now. Hand over the other two Power Crystals." "What other crystals?" "Don't give me any of your innocent act. You know damn well I mean the Eternity and Neo Crystals." Sailor Paradise smiled slyly. "Oh, but I no longer have them." "What?!" Sailor Eclipse screamed. "They've been passed on to the next guardian." "And who is that?" "You actually believe I would tell you?" Sailor Eclipse smiled coldly. "Not even to save your life?" Green Gibbon! found himself back at the cave. He walked up to the opening, and peered inside. A trail of dark colored ground caught his eye, and he followed it in. Behind the alter... "Holy -" he gasped. Lying in a pool of blood, was the 'Sailor Paradise' that he'd taken the Crystal from. She was still alive, but barely. She managed something like a weak smile at seeing him. "I was hoping you'd come. Sailor Eclipse is returned, and the other Crystal Senshi are needed. You must...see to it that the chosen two get the remaining power crystals." "Me?" GG! echoed. "Why me?" "Because it's your destiny..." she managed to tap the back of the alter, and it opened to reveal two more crystals. One was a dark blue color, the other green. "These are the Eternity and Neo Crystals. The green one...the Neo Crystal summons Neo Tuxedo Mask. The blue one, the Eternity Crystal summons Sailor Lunar Eternity. You must find the chosen ones and give them the Crystals. Without them...Sailor Eclipse cannot be defeated..." "But how do I find them?" GG! asked. "You'll know..." her eyes closed. "How will I know? Uh...hello?" GG! bent down and checked her pulse. "Idiot!" he snapped. "She lays there dying and you just stand here and watch? Argh!" He took the Crystals. "Find the chosen ones? Sounds like a RPG to me. And...well...I always loved a good RPG..." "You're my brother?!" KTE exclaimed. He stared open-mouthed at Lir. "That's impossible! You're not even red!" "What do you know about genetics, KTE?" David asked. "Not much I'm afraid. But what does that have to do-" "It has everything to do with it," Lir replied calmly. It was the first time he'd spoken since they'd sat down. "All right. There are dominant and recessive genes," David began. "The echidna gene for red coloring is more dominant than the gene for silver coloring." "Yeah...so?" "Well, your mother, Lillian had the recessive silver genes. All of her coloring genes were-" "And Dad has a red and a silver coloring gene," Lir interrupted. "Simply put in a ratio, of every four children, two would be red, and two would be silver. Or in lowest ration 1 of 2. It's simply how the genetic combinations turn out." "So we...have the same parents? Not just the same mother?" KTE asked Lir. "That's right, son." David answered. "It so happened to combine so that Lir received the 2 recessive silver coloring genes. You received a dominant red gene." "So you're my Dad?" KTE blinked. "That's impossible. How could I go from being an orphan to having a brother and a father? How could no one have ever known?" David paused. "You never met Lir, because after Lillian died, he went to live with Belladonna. It was how Lilly wanted it. She wanted her son to follow her footsteps in the study of the Magick Arts." "That's how it works with the Sorcery Houses," Lir began. "Family names and titles are passed along through women, as they are passed down through males in the Warrior's Houses. My-er, our mother was a Healer, and since there wasn't any daughters, her title would go to the oldest son; namely me. At the time of her death I was four, and it was the age for me to enter the apprenticeship. I lived most of my life in the Silver Echidna Home Realm. I didn't return here until I was 15. Besides, I didn't meet Dad until I was two or three." "Okay, so maybe that's why I never met you," KTE nodded. "But I don't understand-" "Why people told you your parents were dead?" David finished. "It was clear that I could not raise you, KTE. It would be too dangerous, and I have too many enemies." "But...Belladonna told me that Lillian never knew who Lir's dad really was," KTE interrupted. "When Lir was born, no she did not." David paused. "A few years later, I happened across her path again, and we finally had a *real* introduction." "But she could not have known it was..." KTE trailed off. Slowly the pieces began to fall into place. "You're the Masked Echidna! I mean...the one...the one my mask comes from." "Yes, I am." A pause. "You see, KTE, it was too dangerous for me to reveal who I was to your mother. Not until I knew I could trust her. "Now, when your mother died, I knew I couldn't raise you on my own. So I brought you to Agastha. She had raised me, and I had hopped she'd help raise you." "But something happened." "Yes. On my way to her dwelling, I was attacked by vampires. I was badly wounded, and then drug off. They left you to die. Apparently your Teacher found you, and raised you. Agastha has always kept an eye on you for me, though." "Why did they attack you?" "Vampire Slayer is but one of my many professions. A profession, Lir chose to continue." David frowned, thoughtful. "Your teacher must have assumed your parents had been killed by the vampires. As mine were." "Is that why you became the Masked Echidna?" KTE inquired. "To avenge their deaths?" "No, that may be part of it, but the main reason I wear the mask is to continue a family tradition that been going strong for over 1000 years." A pause. "All the way back to the time of the first 'Masked One'. He was a Vampire Slayer, a bounty hunter, and a knight to many a royal house." "Incidentally he was also one of the first Realm Protectors," Lir added. "And history is known to repeat itself. You see, he had the same Master Tool as you do." "You know more than you're saying," KTE concluded. "About what we're supposed to do, about the Master Tools." No response. He was silent. "It took a while, but the family is finally reunited." David smiled. "And just in time," Lir muttered. "KTE, Addy and Kayla have been captured." "By who? The Realm Destroyers?" KTE asked. "Who else? The good news is I know the place they're being held. We'll regroup, and then get them." "No." He stood. "Addy and Kayla are my problem." "How can you say that? Vampire Sephiroth has offered them in exchange for the 2 Master Tools we still have. I think that pretty much makes it everyone's problem." "No. If they weren't my friends, Sephirjerk would have left them alone. It's my fault they were captured. I'll take Bander, and do this on my own. You just go back to the others, and...help Leslie translate that book." He turned to David. "I..." "Go on, and take care of this, son. We can finish talking later. I don't plan on going anywhere." David told him. He nodded, and left. "He's crazy if he thinks I'll let him go against Sephiroth alone," Lir stated. "Not after what happened to Gabe." "Are you sure that's wise, son?" David's eyes shown with concern. "We don't fully understand what happens when you-" "You don't need to worry, Dad." Lir smiled reassuringly. "I have faith. I trust the Mother Goddess to watch over me." He paused, then added. "Besides, we're a family of survivors. We wouldn't have made it this far if we weren't." Chapter Four: "It's not a tremendous problem," Sailor Eclipse told herself. "The new guardian will be looking for the Chosen Ones. I'll just have to find them first." She paused. The Chosen Ones would have the characteristics that she could pick them out by. "They'll be powerful magick workers. And they'll have a connection to the previous ones' spirits." She touched the Silver Crescent Moon wand. "To think those foolish Realm Protectors think they have to find five Protection Senshi in addition to locating their final team member." She laughed. "But I know better. I know five of them are the Protection Senshi. And I know that they protect the other two; the Chosen Ones; the Crystal Senshi. I'll I have to do is determine which are the Protection Senshi, and the other two will be the ones I want." "Well, do *something* you stupid ball," Green Gibbon! shook the blue crystal. "Talk to me! Project an image! Help me out here!" For the past hour or so, he'd been inspecting this crystal; trying to find some way of making it do something. But so far it was to no avail. GG! sighed, and put it down. All thoughts of returning back to the base were long gone. So these things were stubborn. He could be stubborn, too. A sound caught his attention. It reminded him of a movie sound effect that would be used when something disappeared suddenly. He turned, and saw the blue crystal had vanished. "Great." He muttered. "Perfect. I've only been responsible for them for an hour, and I've already lost one." Kit walked into the store room. After Julie-su had come and replace him on watch for the two girls, he was now supposed to guard the Master Tools for Sephiroth. It seemed Old 'Sephy' was a little paranoid and felt that there was a spy in their midst. Kit didn't complain. Sitting in a room for a few hours wasn't much of a strain. He went in, as he'd been instructed to, and went to count. There was the Blade of the Guardian, the Princess's Scepter, the Silver Crescent Moon Wand, and the Ring of Change. "All there," Kit remarked. He sat down in a chair, and put his feet up. In a few minutes, he was asleep. Moon lay on her back, looking up at the clouds. Tension was still thick. Leslie was back at trying to translate the Book of Shadows. Tonia was helping her. The two of them had stayed away from each other. k.a. was sleeping in the hut. It seemed without someone to play with him, he realized how tired he was. She sighed. She hadn't meant to lose her temper with Tonia, but it had to happen to someone. Hopefully, with a little time the two of them might get along. A flash of light to her side made her sit up. Beside her in the grass was a dark blue crystal orb. "What's this?" she wondered out loud. She picked it up. Suddenly she smiled. She raised the crystal into the air... Chapter Five: KTE and Bander walked towards the Dojo. The path to the old village was grown over, but not impassable. "Where'd you go?" Bander asked. "Just to talk to...someone," KTE replied. "That silver guy, you know him?" "Yeah. He says he's my brother." Bander whistled. "You believe him?" "I don't know." "He told me he was Master David's son," he paused. "So would that make you his son too?" "Yeah. So?" "Well...I don't...I just...people really respect him. I don't know why, but the Council is always asking his advice on things." "He's a Master. I imagine they would." A new voice answered. They turned. A silver echidna in a black metal mask, with a silver face-plate was standing behind them. "The Masked Echidna!" Bander exclaimed. "Where'd you come from?" "That's not the Masked Echidna," KTE managed. "The Masked Echidna is red." "Forgive me, Sir KTE. It appears we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I don't really understand what you mean. I have always been silver. Perhaps you are thinking of another Masked." "There's more than one?" Bander asked, confused. "Indeed, Sir Bander." The Masked Silver Echidna paused. "I hope you don't mind if I journey to the Old Village with you. Since we're all going the same way, it would be safer to travel together. Never can tell what's hiding in these woods. Not to mention this is just the place for all sorts of rouges and vampires to lurk about." KTE glared at him. "If you insist on coming..." "I do." "Well, who are we to stop you?" "Great," Bander nodded. "Three is better odds than two." "We were just fine on our own," KTE muttered. "You actually thought I'd let you go on your own?" The Masked One hissed as he fell into step with him. "After what happened, you honestly believed that?" "When this is over," KTE sucked in a breath. "You have got some serious explaining to do." to be continued....