Jeff put the phone down and glanced down at Belle. The little clockwork girl was ticking away, looking at her hands, and feet, tapping the torso of her body with the occasional confused look. Every motion resulted in a high pitched though incredibly smooth motion of a mechanism working infinitely more tiny then Ricky did- yet was essentially the same mechanism.
Belle looked up at Jeff. "Gawd- I- I feel so funny," she said in the end. She moved stiffly on the table, as if she were a toy learning to walk. Jeff blinked a little as that image super imposed itself and he felt himself wince. Anyone who saw Belle would think she was just a little toy. But she was (-no is damn it!) his girlfriend! What in the world was he going to do now?
The tension was too much.
"Where are you going baby?" Asked Belle.
"The kitchen" he said.
"Wait! Don't leave me!" cried the little clockwork girl quickly, running to the edge of the desk.
Jeff paused. He didn't think about that. He was only going to be gone for a few minutes to just put something in the microwave. He wasn't going to abandon her and she was safe in the house. Still she was very anxious. "Do... do you want me to carry you?" He asked biting his lip nervous. Belle's body was so small and delicate. She seemed too precious to just 'hold and carry', especially given her mind was locked inside that- 'thing'.
"U-uh huh, please baby?" She didn't want to just be standing here waiting for him.
Jeff reached down and was a little hesitant. He didn't really know how much pressure the clockwork girl could take, or how heavy she would be. He carefully wrapped his hand around her and was surprised by how soft and smooth she was- so much so that she started to slip, as she was also a little heavier then expected. Fortunately he had caught her winding key in between his fingers as he clasped her using his other hand for support on her feet. He was holding her like she was an egg-shell. Belle's reaction was off putting though, as she suddenly became very still. Ugh! He had blocked the key from moving! He quickly gave it enough space to move by opening his fingers a little, and the little clockwork doll became more comfortable in his large hand.
They went into the kitchen, and he placed Belle on the table there a little relieved to not have to worry about her for now. He then started to put some instant-chicken into the microwave.
"So like- you going to call my parents?" asked Belle as she sat down on the edge of the table.
Jeff nodded, and took out his phone. The conversation went pretty much as expected. He explained Belle's changed, and that she's with her boyfriend, and most importantly 'safe'. Since the teenager was not a changed, he could not bring her back to her house so she would have to stay for now. Belle spoke using the speaker phone and Jeff even sent a picture of her to them using MMS. That way they knew what she looked like now.
Jeff ate his chicken meal, as he stared at the little doll. Belle was Still moving about, testing and experimenting with her body. She ran left and right across the table, gauging the way her body moved. "Whoa- like- this is actually a lot easier!" She said glancing down. Her breasts didn't bounce around any more when she moved. It was always a bit painful as she was on the somewhat larger side when human. The breasts were smaller now, but still retained a feminine shape. Indeed she actually rather liked it better.
Jeff watched her sadly, cutting into the chicken and taking a mouthful. "So... if you want to stay here until tomorrow morning-"
"Huh? Why?"
"You're going to the day side now, right?" He sighed a bit. Ricky probably was too. It wasn't as if he would ever see any of them again now.
"But- I don't wanna go with the others," She said quietly. The idea was actually terrifying.
Jeff actually smiled a bit at that. Maybe he could keep her a little while longer then. "Well... I'll take you to school tomorrow night with me. But lets keep you quiet for now. I should... go get some sleep. Where do you want to sleep?" That was such a weird question to ask. He half pictured maybe putting her in a shoe box. Would that really be dignified though?
"Uh- I dunno. Do I need sleep?" Belle asked. Ricky wasn't too clear on that and she had not asked.
"RIcky- well- she just did it while standing up." He said still very tense as he realised she was not really sleeping and was acutely aware of his deepest darkest secret... of once being a deviant artist. A failed one but- still... he couldn't let anyone know this. If anyone found this, especially his parents, it would be extremely bad. "I don't think you need to sleep."
Belle nodded a bit. "Guess that means a lot of time for eh- stuff."
This then put Jeff in a little panic. What if... what if someone used her key to make Belle leave while he slept? While the sun was up? No he couldn't allow that! He quickly turned on a coffee maker, and brewed a large amount of it.
"What you doin'?" asked Belle.
"I'm going to stay up. I'm not taking any chances." Maybe at least until her mainspring wound down. It was obvious Ricky had Belle's key... could he really trust her with it? He didn't really feel he could. He didn't think Ricky would misuse it exactly, but it was certainly not impossible for her to lose it. Then what? No, He had to make sure Belle was safe at least until he had a better idea of the fate of her Master Key. Stupid Ricky, why did she think he would... would...
You didn't really give her any reason to think otherwise
The teenage boy ran a hand on his cheek, feeling the slight sting of Ricky's slap lingering, though at least the bruise was healing.
..."I'm... sorry too," he said quietly.
"What is happening to me?" Asked Julian. The wolf boy was surrounded in inkey darkness with a multitude of windows. Each window seemed focus on one particular person's actions. However none of it was linear or 'live'. It was like everything was going on in different time-frames. It was so confusing.
"What is happening to me? happening what is to me? To What me happening is to me me?" The words bounced and echoed in the darkness.
We are you, you are us. We are Enemy-Julian
Julian struggled, trying to understand why he was seeing the Earth from so far away now. Yet he could see all the other things if he focused. At the same time, the enemy was getting an understanding of time. Past, Present, and Future as it saw the world through Julian's eyes. The future intrigued them most, as it was at that point they would succeed. However there were agents that manipulated the future, to prevent this from ever happening. A threat that had to be neutralised. Otherwise no matter what they did, they would be 'fated' to lose.
"Did the sun change me again?" Asked the 'wolf'. The hunter of the sky, the one who would destroy and re-make the world he wanted. He was slowly understanding his new place in the world. His ability to be realised.
No. You are one of us. You are no longer a sun changed. Your potential has changed. You 'breeched'.
"Breeched?" Asked Julian. immediately concepts of a theoretical threshold was burned into his mind. Something that happens if emotion or desire reached a critical point in a world of magic... especially strong amongst the young, and even more so on ones who did not quite understand who they were. Not all of this knowledge was his own, but conjoined from the Enemy. Large vaults of information as they made a vague understanding of the human condition- something no human themselves could really understand either.
"Am I the first?" Asked Julian.
There was another... but no longer.
Who? asked Julian.
Enemy-Tiffany
The three eyed asian girl was in the hospital. She hated hospitals, and she wondered if she was going to be spending a lot more time in them from now on. She was sundered with so much information all at once, it had made her collapse. But at the end of it all, she saw just a dark spot above the sky. It looked like it was chasing the moon. A dark wolf, threatening to eat and consume all. Haru was terrified, and suddenly the dark moon had enveloped her entire consciousness.
Haru blinked, her three eyes. "S-Something's wrong," she said.
The nurse looked her over as she ran a small light over her eyes. Follow the light," She said concerned. This was a simple test for concussion.
Haru did so, though her third eye didn't respond to the change in light. The nurse looked gravely concerned.
Haru bit her lip. "I... I can't see, from my third eye any more," She said tensing.
Lucas watched the events tensing. "What the hell... did I do this?"
"No Lucas," said Selene. "It's... the Enemy-Julian," She said. "Haru presented a grave threat to them. It looks like the Enemy neutralised her. They are covering her third eye in a mass of darkness, preventing her from seeing their actions now."
Lucas looked angry and furious. "Show me which side of the dark-moon I need to kick."
Lilly went home, happy of a work well done in the shop. The mouse person wanted to give her money, but the squirrel girl politely refused. Just being to help someone, was really all the reward she wanted. She didn't know if this would bring her any closer to the world that Jenny and Artemis inhabited, but... she did feel happy.
Her dinosaur brother walked with her also quite glad to see the girl in a chirpier mood.
"Um.. brother?" Asked Lilly in the end glancing. She wiggled her tongue near her loose tooth. It was a constant reminder to her now of Bruce looking at her with that... weirdly cute face of his.
"Yeah?" Asked the Dinosaur-boy, thundering every step of the side walk.
Lilly blushed under her fur a bit worried on what her brother would think of this. Still she felt she could trust him. "Um- Don't er- don't say to anyone I asked this but... am... am I .. um..." she whispered something quietly.
"What?" Asked Stacy. "Go on spit it out."
"Am I... I mean- do you think boys might- eh-... am-I-pretty?" she said rapidly.
Stacy stopped. "Wha?"
