When you have large family, you have much responsibilities...another Birthday coming up!

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…
Chester arrived to the scene first.
There was already a crowd forming, which was something that made him try to hide in his very tall and highly noticeable blue-looking form. Something told him that if he were to appear, they would flock and ask him what happened, and he did not want to deal with them at all. Tom was lucky in that aspect, being able to leave and disappear, like a ninja. Which of course, made the young warrior boy wonder, just where exactly was he? There were people around the broken, upside-down van near the café, and probably the driver, from a little glimpse that he saw of them. And yet Tom wasn’t anywhere, for some reason.
“Did he go somewhere?”
<We should search for him around. Mayhaps he is hiding.>
Nodding in agreement, he slowly got from behind the corner of the building, enough to not get within their point of view. First things first, he should try to look around, and maybe find the hiding spot that Tom very likely took. But then, before he could do few more steps, he felt his arm getting tugged out of nowhere. He shook a bit and looked beside himself, ready to face the person who found him in his hiding corner.
But there wasn’t anyone.
Checking behind himself, then gazing into the crowd from afar, who fortunately still did not look his way, he didn’t find anyone who could’ve touched him. He then thought that it probably was nothing. And then he felt his shoulder get pulled hard enough to make him tip a bit. Chester lunged back in ready position.
But there wasn’t anyone.
“Ok…What is happening?” Chester asked. Azure didn’t answer, mainly since he was confused as well.
His shoulder then got lightly tapped, and Chester began spinning in place trying to find whoever was playing with him. Frustratingly enough, there was no one. And even more frustrating, they managed to poke him again, this time in his torso. Chester was ready to ask if they were being attacked by imps, but Azure quickly denied it without uttering a word.
But as he was looking below himself, it was then that Chester noticed something peculiar. For one, his shadow looked unusually large. In fact, it looked like as if it got stuffed with two people, which he never saw before. Chester checked to make sure the sun was hitting him directly, but his shadow was in fact bigger than he was. He had no idea why, but that really took his interest.
Then he noticed the shadow raise it’s hand by itself.
Quickly checking his hand, then behind shoulder and then back to the shadow, he saw how it kept waving at him. Then it used its hand to touch the head of Chester’s shadow, and he felt it poking him right on his temple.
“What’s going on?”
<Chester…move,> Azure told him, making Chester realize something too.
Once he moved far enough, the shadow started to bow. Though more accurately, it bopped its head and dropped shoulders to show a sign of relief, as if it had just achieved its goal.
After looking at it intently, Chester realized exactly whose shape of the shadow belonged too.
“Tom? Is that you?”
…
Flora kept focusing on her hands, feeling the small vibration through the air entering the skin. The koala-man whom she healed suddenly groaned, most likely from pain, but after a minute or two, he seemed to have calmed down, as the fractures and scratches on his leg slowly repaired themselves into a more functional form.
<You can finish here,> Rose told her, and Flora took her hands away. The man looked down on his leg and moved it just a tiny bit. It seemed to be mostly healed, which also relaxed Flora.
“Don’t worry, it looks like its all healed. You should visit the hospital later though, with your friend as well” she warned him while pointing to the otter dude lying down nearby. She looked around the crowd. “Is there anyone else who needs healing?” Everyone in the crowd check themselves but no one else responded. She took it to mean that she was done here and started to quickly move out of the way. Now she could focus on whatever Chester and Tom were doing, she’d rather not leave those two goofing around.
“Did you see her? She looks so beautiful!” She heard someone whisper.
“Where do you think they come from?” Another said.
If she would listen to a few more, she’d probably have a whole book worth of praises. It was obvious that majority of them liked them. She agreed even with some calling Rose beautiful herself. And as long as she used this chance, she might probably be able to…
<That was kind of you to think!> Rose suddenly chimed, which shook Flora from her train of thought.
“Oh, it’s nothing!” She said out loud. Then she felt the crowd go silent, making her realize she just spoke while they were near. “I would do anything to help! Now, onto my friends, the Valiant Valley Protectors!”
The crowd gave her a small applause as she went, which went a long way to subside her feelings of embarrassment. She dashed away without looking back, making her way to where Chester and the others supposedly were. Hopefully he hasn’t been goofing around, which she really hopes he’d stop doing and help her achieve her goal. Seriously, she already had to deal with finding a new place to stay, and if he decided to suddenly-
<Flora, are you feeling well?>
“What do you mean?” Flora responded, surprised by the sudden question.
It was then that she finally noticed. As she stepped forward, she felt the weight of her feet increase a bit. Did using the spell made her tired?
<That should not be the case, or so I think…>
Flora shook her head. Whatever it was, she still needed to get to the other two. And then, she struggled getting her foot off of the ground.
“What is going on!?”
She tried to push her leg up, but it felt like she had some sort of weight attached to them, because pulling them up was way too difficult. She moved the rims of the dress the covered her feet, but found them bare, besides the sandals that Rose usually wore. She tried to pick one again, but it was still heavy beyond reason.
“What…the…HECK!”
<Was this the ability of the Torque?> Rose wondered, sounding worried.
Flora sighed, giving herself a breather. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. If there was something she worried about herself, was looking goofy in front of the crowd, as she was being now.
…
Fotia sitting in the living room, watching the TV on the armchair beside Miss Elephantus and her son. Minutes earlier, he had just finished watching an episode of “Something About Soaps”, as the next one was immediately playing. There was a marathon going on at the moment, something that Miss Elephantus made aware to him.
“Ho hum, I expect the next episode to be about her brother again!” She huffed through her truck, taking a bite out of piece of apple pie, laying on a pretty little plate that was on her lap. She angled her large body to see the young crow easier, “My word, can you believe that he is going to keep lying to their mother about their secret affair? Even though that lover of his is in fact their long-lost sister?” She then shook hear large head, “Young people are always quite foolish.”
“Verily,” replied Fotia flatly.
“That said, I do wonder what the brother’s clone is doing,” the large lady kept chatting. “Last time we’ve seen him, he was trying to get attention of the Amia, who looked just exactly like their sister. The way I see it, the same thing that happened to the brother will happen to the clone, and it will be worse!”
“Truly, the brother is far too merciless a person to consider enacting any form of kindness to someone sharing his own blood. What a cruel twist of irony this is,” Fotia stated grimly, to which Elphantus nodded her head in agreement.
“Exactly what I am saying!”
“Such a long and intricate storytelling, truly never have I seen something like it before,” he then said, with a look of iration in his eye.
Before long though, Fotia looked through the window. He had been enjoying the company of Miss Elephantus very much, and the series do pique his interests. And yet, thinking about his comrades fighting against a possible monstrous threat, without him to provide back up, felt hollow. He promised them to stay back…
But blast it, he wants in on the action!!!
“Pardon me, milady.” Fotia jumped out of the couch and towards the door.
“But what about your friends? Won’t they come back to pick you up?”
“I am afraid that plan would have to wait for a new one. That is one which involves me coming to them first!”
“Very well.” Miss Elephantus went on to relax on her seat. “Go ahead and have fun now. Say hello to your father!”
“I shall, once I meet him!” Fotia promptly exited out of the building.
Miss Elephantus looked at her son, who was quite this whole time. “You are not still sulking are you?”
Her son responded with silence.
“I think I am starting to enjoy having younger kids in my house, finally!” She stated, which finally got him to look her way, his face mopeyer than before. “I said what I said.”
…
Meanwhile, Chester had been prodding the shadow out curiosity. It was without a doubt Tom in a form of Kage. And he was in fact, on wall flailing around like a shadow, trying to avoid the stick.
“Does it really hurt you, or..?” He asked Tom, whom due to being unable to make any sound, opted to make wild gestures to show his anger. As he kept observing, Chester thought, Isn’t that…part of his abilities?
<None that I’ve witnessed,> Azure commented. <If you believe that perhaps it was something I have not seen, I can assure you, Kage made it clear that he can phase within objects, but he CANNOT become a shadow itself. That would be part of dark-element spell, which would be far too dangerous to use.>
“Far too dangerous? Really, why?” Chester’s curiosity got piqued again.
<It is similar to an Ice elements magic, albeit far more risky. You are learning to manipulate what is not there, something made absent. You can learn heat, light, water, wind or earth. But learning darkness is out of the question, as far as I am aware.>
Chester raised an eyebrow from this new information. So, he figured, that meant Tom and Kage were turned into a shadow, and the reason was because of someone else, right? So does that mean it was a Torque attack? Do they use dark magic? CAN they use magic?
<They needn’t to be, as they are made of magic themselves. There is a reason they are so dangerous.>
“Sir Azure!”
Chester spun his head, expecting Flora, who should’ve caught up by now, to be the once calling him. Instead, it was someone else, a warrior clad with emerald-colored scales.
“Hey, I just checked everything,” she said triumphantly. “Looks like nobody else in here was hurt!” Her smile was big and sunny, which stood out greatly alongside her imposing look. “Do you think it’s maybe just a bad driver?”
“Er…” Chester caught himself stammering. It was weird, but he had no idea how to react at that moment.
<Chester…>
“Sorry, um, I think…maybe? Something happened to my friend?”
The scaled warrior looked at him with confusion.
“Which friend?” She looked around. “Where’s To-I mean Kage!” She shouted, catching herself.
Did she say Tom?
<Chester…>
“Wait, that shadow…it looks weird.” She approached the wall a bit closer. “Is that…Mister Kage? That is so neat!” She said excitedly, bending down for a closer look.
Chester was about to look around, until he finally decided to come closer and ask her,
“Um…Can I ask you something?” The emerald warrior looked at him. “I dunno how to say this but…
Who are you?”
…