Becca's POV

I stared at the 7 bodies on the floor.

Well...6 bodies and a little wolf.

Guys...?  I asked quietly.

Object groaned and sat up, looking at me.  "B-Becca?"

She tried to stand up but ended up falling to her knees, a loud clang sounding in the Grand Hall.

I winced.  Ow, are you ok?!

She stared at her legs.  "I...I didn't...feel anything...."

I widened my eyes.  Uh oh....

I knelt down next to her.  Tell me if this hurts.

I pinched her arm a little hard.  I would've yelped of someone pinched me even that little bit.

Her eyes were wide.  "I felt the pressure...but...that didn't hurt...at all...."

Oh no, oh no, oh no....

The wolf pup whimpered as...uh, I'ma say she cuz I think it was one of my friends...she shakily stood to her feet.

She looked up at me and barked.

I...didn't know who it was because they all looked strange.  All I knew was that it wasn't Kit or Object.

I looked sadly at the pup.  I'm sorry, I don't understand you....

She whimpered as she looked down, her tail between her legs.

Kit groaned as she sat up, her wings fluttering slightly as she rubbed her eyes.  "Oww...why is it so bright in here?!"  She moaned as she picked up her stick.

It's...the same brightness as before, Kit....  I said, my voice laced with worry.

She looked completely at me and I gasped.

She had cat eyes.

Orange eyes with black, vertical slits that started to widen slightly as she grew accustomed to the light.

"Holy...Kit, your eyes!"  Object exclaimed.  "You have cat eyes!"

Kit's eyes widened slightly before she squinted them with a grimace.  "Uh, I guess that would explain why it's so bright in here...."

The girl with wolf ears and a wolf tail sat up slowly.  "Ow...."

She looked at me, and I gasped.

Aura!

She shakily stood to her feet, touching her ears and tail.  "What the...I'm part wolf?!"

The wolf pup barked at Aura, her eyes wide and hopeful.

Aura looked around.  "Wh-Who said that?!"

The pup ran up to Aura, barking happily.

Aura looked down, seeing the pup.  "Oh...you said that?  Who are you?"

The pup barked once.

Aura's eyes widened.  "spark???"

Wait...that was spark???

The pup...spark barked happily, wagging her tail.

So...the only ones left were ilbarker, Known, and Cassia....

One of the winged girls sat up next.  "Owowow...."

She shakily got to her feet, her angel wings flexing strangely.

I gasped when I saw who it was.

...ilbarker...?

ilbarker looked back at her wings and gasped, her wings fluttering nervously.

"Is that...that's connected to me, isn't it...?"

She fluttered her wings a bit, grabbing them lightly with a wince since those most definitely weren't there before.

"Holy crap....  What happened?!"

I....

The reptilian girl sat up coughing.  Little shots of fire came out every time she coughed.

"Oww...that hurtssssss...."  She hissed.

She turned to us and I winced.

Well then...that's...unfortunate....

Cassia slowly stood up, looking at us then at her arms and legs.  She reached up to touch her face.  "What...happened to me...?"

With the fire, the hiss, the scales....

Cassia...you're part hydra....

Before she could react,  Known sat up, her angel wings flexing.

They were incredibly long.  Judging from what I could see mentally, her wings had to be at least 10 feet from end to end.

And her eyes....  They were once brown, but now they were golden.

Or, uh, budder.

She looked at her wings surprised, though not as surprised as I thought she'd be.  "Well then...this is...interesting...."

We all looked at each other before we all hugged in a big group hug, spark panting happily in Aura's arms.

"Becca!  Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you!"  ilbarker exclaimed, her wings shaking with excitement.

spark barked a bit.  Aura translated.  "'It's nice that we're all together again, but Becca, what happened to us?'  Yeah, I kinda wanna know, too."

They all looked at me expectantly.

Told you it wasn't a good idea to do 7...look what happened!

Rebekitah, calm down.  The last thing I need is for you to be panicking.

I looked around at them.  Well, I heard your wishes and thought it'd be a good idea to have one last adventure.  Unfortunately, my mental capacity can only bring 6 people without problems, but...since there were 7, there were some...problems, as you can tell....

Cassia examined her arms. "Umm, yeah!  Could you pleasssssse explain what'ssssss happening here?"

Kit looked at Cassia nervously.

Well, Object has CIPA without the A part.  Basically, she can feel pressure, but not pain.  If her arm got broken, she wouldn't feel it, which is extremely dangerous.  spark seems to have turn into a full-on wolf pup.  Aura is part wolf.  Kit seems to have cat eyes.  Cassia...is...uh, part hydra with the fire-breathing and scales and hissing and stuff.  ilbarker seems to have wings, though I don't know if they work....  Known...seems to have wings and golden eyes.

"And, uh, I can control light.  Look."

She aimed her hands at the chandelier.  Little yellow sparks flew from the chandelier and formed into a small, yellow ball just in front of her hands.

She pulled her hands back but "held" the ball in her hands.

She turned and showed us the ball before throwing it into the air, mini-exploding into little yellow fireworks before dissipating.

"Whoa, that was cool!"  Aura exclaimed, spark yipping in agreement.

Known rubbed the back of her head.  "I can actually use it as a weapon.  However, like this, darkness is a huge weakness.  When I'm out of power or in total darkness, my eyes turn back to brown.  I guess you could kinda call me a plant cuz I can regain my magical energy from the sun.  Without the energy, I'm just normal me with huge, bulletproof wings."

Bulletproof?!?

Known chuckled.  "Don't ask."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair.  Well...back to the main point.  Why I brought you here.  You see, my essence moved timelines...weirdly...and we're currently in the timeline where I stopped the loop.  AKA those 7 are living peacefully...somewhere out there.  Maybe.  I honestly don't know.  I can't leave....

spark barked.  "'Why?'"  Aura translated.

Because...well, it's kinda like Howl's Moving Castle and Calcifer.  If Calcifer left the moving castle, it would all break down into nothing.  It's like that here.  My essence keeps this place...real.  Keeps...me real, in a way.  If I leave, this all disappears, and I'm not ready for that.

"Wait, you've been sssssstuck in here ever ssssssince?!"  Cassia asked in surprise.

I nodded.  It's gotten a bit lonely.  I heard your wishes and brought you here...partially for a little company and mostly for your wishes.  And, well...your adventure is...checking on everyone outside the castle.  It's been...well, what's felt like months since I stopped the loop.  I have no clue what goes on outside save for the glass room and what little world I can see.  Anything could've happened to them whilst I've been stuck here.  You'd probably find an adventure or 73 out there.  I chuckled.

"So...we find Sky, Quentin, Sub, Barney, and Mitch and Jerome and Kirby?"  Aura asked.

I nodded.  I wanna know if they're ok.

"But...I would hazard a guess that this castle is literally in the middle of nowhere."  Object pondered.

"You'd be right.  Didn't it take us, like, 2 hours flying just to get to Sky's castle?"  ilbarker asked.

I nodded.  Yes, but that was for plot.  The areas you need to go to/find should be relatively close to each other, save for Barney who is probably a traveling dino.  Sky would be in his kingdom.  Mitch, Jerome, and Kirby are together, Quentin is...somewhere and Sub is...somewhere.  Uh, scratch that "save for Barney" thing.  All you have to go off of is Sky's kingdom.  Maybe he'll know where they are.

"Umm...you said you wanted to know how they all were doing.  Do you want us to come back after every person?"  Kit asked, glancing at her wings in nearly-concealed worry.

I laughed.  Haha, no!  Here.

I waved my hand at them as tiny sparkles landed on all their right ears.  Even spark.

There.  These are little mics/speaker thingys.  I literally just thought of them, don't judge me.  Basically, just tap your right ear and communications will turn on between me and that person.  Of course, if more than one person did that, we'd be in a single hearing thingy.  Anyway, just talk once you tap your ear.  Because of possible accidents, the mics/speakers only activate when you tap them with YOUR finger and no one else.

"Wait, what about sssssspark?  Sssssshe doessssssn't have fingerssssss."

Well, she'll use her front paws to do it.  Since, well, I could imagine her doing some normal dog moves, her back paws can't activate it.  Moving on, it'll turn on a two-way private connection among us, or, at least the people who have their speaker-mics on.  Be wary, though, that it can't always work.  I'm pretty sure sorcerer magic could cut off any connections.  And don't worry, they don't wash off.

"Is someone writing this down?"  ilbarker asked nervously.

Aura scoffed.  "I got it, don't worry, ilbarker."

ilbarker sighed.  "Thank you."

Kit looked at me, her eyes a little more open now, though, I have to admit, those eyes were a tiny bit...well, weird.  "So...we go to Sky's kingdom first?"

Yeah.  Again, him being your only lead means that is probably the only place you can confidently go.

Spark barked again.  "'Will you be ok by yourself?'"  Aura said.

spark, I've been alone for who knows how long.  I'm used to being alone.  Fun, or not, fact, I literally had NO friends for SEVEN YEARS.  Yeah, no joke, this isn't just for effect in the plot.  I literally went seven years without friends.  Not a time I want to go back to, but I at least KNOW I have friends, ya know?

ilbarker looked at me sadly.  "That sucks...."

I nodded.  Now, I think y'all should head off.  Kit, you know where we flew to get there, right?

She thought for a second.  "...Yeah, I think so."

I smiled.  That's good....  Hey, be careful out there, ok?

They all gave me a big hug and spark licked my face, causing me to giggle a little.

"SSSSSSHIP----"  Cassia started.

Cassia, no.  Don't even.

We all laughed and they waved goodbye, heading out the door that was made so long ago by Jerome.

I watched with slight sadness as they left, disappearing into the surrounding forest.

I shut the door and went to Jerome's room, closing the door and flopping on the bed.

...Are you gonna be ok?

...I...don't know....  I'm just worried.

They'll be fine, Becca.  Yeesh.  Stop being so dang negative.

Hey!  I'm a pessimist and you of all people would know that!

...True.

I sighed, closing my eyes to sleep.

Just...please...be careful, guys....