The Dimension Keepers (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Espio?" Kay stammered, her heart thudding in her chest. "Prince Shinobi?" Prince? Since when was Espio royalty? In the old Dragon Kingdom being the son of a clan's Bride did give him some higher position in the hierarchy, but royalty? This was completely new to her.

Espio took a step toward her, a hand held out prepared to steady her. He looked exactly as she remembered – what part of him she could see, anyway. But as with every other familiar face she'd encountered thus far, his voice was different. She hadn't recognized it; there had been no clues whatsoever to indicate that her masked rescuer was her old friend. Except for his eyes, she realized now, but even those seemed different. I suppose when one's life story changes, their eyes change along with them.

"Please, do not be alarmed," he said to her now, letting his hand hover near her just in case but not quite touching. "As I said, I am not fit to be called royalty when I have lost my kingdom to the enemy. You are under no obligation to consider me as anything more than friend, shiriai, should you choose to do so."

He was speaking so formally. More formally than she'd ever heard him speak before. Kay blinked several times, forcing herself to look away from him. More changes to the world she knew were coming on quicker than she'd anticipated. She had no idea what to do about any of it. Prince?

"Li Yuen," Espio turned to the lion, "please take our guest to your sister. I believe she needs rest."

"Of course, sire," Li Yuen replied, ducking his head when Espio shot him a look. "Sorry. Old habits die hard. Follow me," he said to Kay, making a gesture for her to come. "My sister oversees the women's bunker. She will be able to help you settle in."

Still in shock over her latest discovery, Kay silently walked past Espio and through the doorway behind Li Yuen, noticing a yellow tail with a tuft of rust orange fur at the end of it, just barely missing the floor of the cavern due to its length. After several paces she glanced back over her shoulder. Espio was nowhere to be found.

She followed Li Yuen's lead through a maze of darkened caverns with uneven pathways that all looked the same to her. She wondered how he knew where to go, and then suddenly they were at another doorway. This one had a curtain draped inside it for some semblance of privacy. Li Yuen turned to her then and nodded once.

"This is the women's bunker. I am not allowed inside unless there are extenuating circumstances, but of course you may feel free to go ahead. My sister is Li Moon. Ask for her and she will take care of you." He smiled then. "Also tell her I said hello. I don't get to see her much during the day."

Kay nodded and mumbled a promise that she would, and Li Yuen turned and walked back the way he had come. Li Yuen. Li Moon. It hit her then, suddenly, why his name had sounded familiar, and why his sister's sounded familiar as well. Li Yuen had been an elderly temple guardian on Mobius Prime, before the Genesis Wave had erased any evidence of him. And Li Moon had been his granddaughter. They were brother and sister now? That was...odd.

Kay shook herself from her thoughts and pushed the curtain aside, stepping through into the first well-lit area she had been to since entering the secret caverns. There were torches along the walls to give the room an aura of liveliness, and some spaces between torches were adorned with décor to make it feel more like a home. There were not many girls inside at the moment, but the amount of mats on the floor suggested there were at least twenty or thirty who slept here regularly.

"Kangei, mishiranu hito," one of the girls – a fox – said, approaching her from where she'd been kneeling beside a mat with what appeared to be an ill female resting on it. "A! Anata wa hejjihoggudesu," she exclaimed once she'd gotten closer. "Anata wa watashitachi no ōkoku no gesutodenakereba narimasen. Anata wa sensō no tame ni watashitachi no ma de hinansho o sagashimashita ka?"

"Um..." Kay stammered, forcing her mind to focus enough to relay that she was not fluent in this girl's language.

"Oh, my apologies," the girl said, switching effortlessly. Can everyone on Chun-Nan speak my language? "Welcome. You must be a guest in our kingdom, correct? We do not have many hedgehogs here. Have you sought shelter here due to the war?"

"I think so, yes," Kay replied after a moment. This fox was very beautiful. Her fur was the same rusty orange color as Li Yuen's mane, but her hair was black as a raven's wings. It was pulled up into a bun at present, but Kay knew that it probably ran down the full length of her back, if not longer, when freed from its position.

"My name is Li Moon," the girl said. "I am the overseer of the women's bunker. Do you need anything?"

She looks exactly the same as her counterpart on Prime. That's a first. "I'm not sure," Kay replied. "I was attacked by the Yagyu clan and rescued by...by your Prince Shinobi." It feels so strange to say that. "He seems to think I may still need medical attention. Honestly I'm too confused about everything to know one way or the other."

Li Moon gasped, her eyes widening. "You were rescued by the prince? He has returned? Oh, thank heavens he is safe. He was away for so long this time..." She shook her head, collecting herself. "But of course, that can wait. Please, come with me and tell me exactly where you are hurt so I may inspect your injuries."

Kay followed her lead to an open mat further down the row and sat upon it as she told Li Moon the basics of what had happened with the Yagyu, and how she had hit her head before blacking out. Li Moon hummed sympathetically and checked the rest of her for injuries before moving on to her head. It was as she was being inspected that Kay realized something else.

Li Yuen was a lion, and Li Moon was a fox. On Prime the difference in their species was explained through a generational gap, but in this universe they were brother and sister. That meant that their parents had to have been a lion and a fox that mated. That was practically unheard of on Prime, but then, this new Mobius was full of surprises...

After a while Li Moon deemed Kay free of any serious injuries, but suggested that she rest nonetheless, just to be safe. "Once you're feeling better I can show you to the common area, and you can get food and drink to replenish your strength. How long will you be staying with us, shiriai?"

Kay blinked, surprised by the question and a little embarrassed by the answer. "Actually, I just got here yesterday. I didn't have any particular duration planned. I just needed to get away from...where I was."

Li Moon stared at her. "You arrived on Chun-Nan voluntarily, knowing there was a war going on? And you are not simply passing through?"

"The transport warned me that things were tense here," Kay replied quietly, averting her eyes. "I guess I just didn't realize how serious it was." I didn't think things in this universe could be so serious, based on what little I'd seen of it on Bygone Island. What was I thinking? But then again...this was what I wanted, wasn't it? I wanted to be somewhere more exciting, and this certainly fits the bill.

"Well, regardless of how you came to be here, you are welcome for as long as you need shelter," Li Moon said at last, getting to her feet. "Rest up. If the prince is here, I must find him at once."

Kay suddenly felt her chest clench. "Is he going to leave again soon?"

"Oh, no. He will stay here for a few days at the least to rest and recuperate, and give us news of what is happening in the heart of the kingdom. You needn't worry about missing him."

Relieved, Kay nodded, then finally lay down on the mat as Li Moon hurried out of the bunker. She stared up at the earthy ceiling above her for a long time, thinking about how quickly things had taken a turn since she set foot on this continent. Usually Sonic is where all the action is. This time it's the complete opposite. Everything is so different here. She smiled to herself. But at least there are some familiar faces, too.