Venice had greeted his mother the most dramatically out of the boys. He'd ran forward and hugged her tightly around the neck, the two clearly having a telepathic conversation as their faces changed in response.
It was like Venice had only been away on a weeklong trip, rather than his whole life.

After that, the group had gone to the dining hall, where they sat at separate tables, divided by gender. Quetzal, Amy and Rouge sat down with Amanda and some other girls, but the boys were allowed to sit with their mother.

"Wow..." Venice looked around the room, bustling with at least two hundred people. "...All of these people are Fae?"

"Yes. This is the largest camp for us, though. There are more elsewhere."

"And they all use Chaos Energy?" Silver asked.

"No. Some, like Amanda, are Gaia Fae, using the power of Light and Dark Gaia. Some are Chronos Fae, using the energies of time itself. Others are Dream Fae, Dark Fae, even Fae that are simply elemental Fae." She smirked. "We used to have several Ring Fae...but most were lost to Lazla's cause or died of old age. Quetzal is the only one here now."

Venice looked at Quetzal, her weapons never leaving her reach. "Mom...what happened to Quetzal? How did she get here?"

Minerva sighed. "Quetzal was born to Lazla and Baron Dominick, a distant relative of your father's. Lazla used her magic powers to hide her true form from him.
Quetzal was irradiated with her mother's magic in an attempt to make her as powerful as Lazla once was. This left Quetzal's powers very unstable. When she wasn't born a Master Fae like Chaos is, Lazla left her and Dominick. Neither of them forgot her abandonment.
Quetzal's powers are tied to her emotions, but mostly her anger. If she gets angry, she can cause serious damage."

Suddenly the door opened, and a gray bat stepped inside the room. He was dressed in armor, though the satchel over his shoulder told them he was a messenger. "Pardon my bursting in, but I heard my sister was-"

Rouge stood up, her eyes meeting up with his. "...Stirling?" She asked.

"Ro..." Stirling stepped towards her. "...I know it's been a long time but-oof!" He was greatly surprised as Rouge hugged him tightly. "...huh."

"Do you have any idea how good it feels to know I'm not an orphan, Stirling? That I have a family...!?"

Shadow smiled. "...I do." He bowed his head. "I'm sorry for being such a terrible brother to you three..."

"Being a brother is something you learn over time, Shadow." Silver assured. "You shouldn't expect to be perfect at it either, no one is."

Minerva sighed. "You're such a perfectionist, Shadow. Just like your grandfather..."

"You think?"

"I know. Let loose a little, soldier." Rouge giggled.

Venice sighed. This was working out well now...

...............................................................

"Come on, Nick!"

The hedgehog grabbed his friend's hand, trying not to fall himself as they ran across the hilly landscape. "Don't give up!"

Nick looked back, seeing the massive snarling dogs chasing them and the soldiers that owned them pointing weapons at them and firing at their heels. "Ah! They're catching up!"

"Come on, kids! Just through the gates!" His father shouted from ahead. "Almost there!"

Nick yelped as she tripped over her skirt, falling to the ground. "Ah!"

"Nicole!" The teenager paused, snatching up his friend in his arms and starting up again.

"Come on!"

He ran, harder than he ever had, and finally reached the inside of the wall. Suddenly he screamed as he was shot, falling and sending the two tumbling across the cobblestone.

He didn't move once he came to a stop, holding his left shoulder as his face scrunched up in pain. "Ah...! It hurts!"

"Shard...!" He felt a hand touch his head, stroking it slowly. "Let me see it, son..."

Shard forced his hand to unfold from around the injury, though it felt like he was being stabbed with a hundred needles, and his lower arm felt numb. "I-Is it bad...!?" He hissed through tears. "D-Dad, I can't feel my arm...!"

"I'm going to assume your wires are damaged...we'll have to perform surgery to repair them."

"Great...another surgery...!" He whispered, looking at the metal composing his arm from his elbow down, and his right leg from the knee down.

Nicole took his hand, though he couldn't feel it enough to squeeze it. "Thank you...for saving me back there."

"It's what heroes do, Nicole..." He smiled, though tears streamed down his cheeks. "...and I'd do anything to protect you...!"

His father carefully picked him up. "Let's get you to a medic..."