Not so Sweet Dreams
Julie-Su pushed savagely at the underbrush that blocked her path. Several sharp thorns tore at her, ripping both skin and clothing, but she didn't seem to notice. After all, such things are trivial when you're running for your life.
She could hear the Dark Legion all around her, closing in for the kill. Harsh lights stabbed at the surrounding darkness. Trees crashed and fell as the Legion, in their eagerness to capture the traitor, knocked the ancient forest apart. She'd barely known a moment's peace since they'd discovered her amongst the Mobians. She hated to think what they were doing to her friends.
Distracted by thoughts of the others, she missed the exposed tree root. Catching her foot she twisted, landing badly, the wind knocked out of her. She dragged herself to her feet, cursing her clumsiness, and winced as she put her weight on her now twisted ankle. If she'd been wearing her boots, any damage would have been minimal. But she was barefoot, the Legion having rudely awoken her from her bed. She only had the tattered remnants of her nightshirt to keep her warm. She managed to stumble a few more meters before she sat down heavily on a fallen tree, massaging her throbbing ankle.
"Well, well, well," a voice taunted. "If it isn't my sweet little sister." She looked up into Kragok's smirking face, his horrible cybernetic eye glowing menacingly. She frowned. Kragok couldn't be here, he'd been banished to another dimension, along with the true Tobor, what seemed a lifetime ago.
"You've led us on a merry chase," he said, picking her up easily with his bionic claw. She dangled painfully from her one ensnared wrist. Vainly she kicked at her wicked half-brother, but his pinchers held her tight.
"But now, it's time to die." He announced, almost cheerfully.
He tossed her casually over his shoulder, and into a very dark, impossibly deep pit. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.
As she fell into the cold embracing darkness, she could see that the pit was not as bottomless as she had first thought. Large, jagged rocks awaited her below, growing ever closer with each passing moment.
'This can't be happening,' she thought, 'it's just a dream.' She shuddered as her imminent death reached for her. She remembered hearing somewhere that if you die in your dreams you die for real. She closed her eyes.
'At least we'll be together again.'
She gasped as she crashed into something only slightly softer than the ground. The sound of the rushing wind, which had been howling in her ears, suddenly switched from vertical to horizontal. Still fearing for her life, and seeing how close she'd come to death, she kept her eyes squeezed shut as she clung tightly to whatever it was that had broken her fall.
Whatever it was, it was warm and comforting, and strangely familiar. She was suddenly aware of a slight jarring sensation as whatever it was came into gentle contact with the ground. The air felt warmer, and was lightly scented with the aroma of wildflowers. Whatever it was that had rescued her lowered her gently, carefully, seemingly aware of her injured ankle. She felt a large hand grasp the injury, then a calming, healing warmth flooded her ankle.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked up at her saviour. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped and she scuttled away backwards, on all fours, like some kind of demented crab.
He smiled gently, somewhat amused, she guessed, by her reaction. He offered her a hand, but she just continued to stare at him, dumbfounded.
It couldn't be, but, somehow, it was. The one being she had prayed every night to see again, despite the fact that she knew she never could. The bright red fur, the crest of white at his throat, the soulful violet eyes, were just as she remembered them.
Standing silently before her, his twin spurred hand still held out to her, his dark eyes surveying her, she was overcome with a feeling of complete peacefulness. Hesitantly, she took his hand and he pulled her easily to her feet.
She was surprised at how tall he was. He had to be a good five or ten centimetres taller than the last time she'd seen him. And he was thin, almost painfully so.
She tentatively touched his chest. Even though his fur was much thicker, she could feel the ridges of his rib bones. She lay her head against him, burrowing in under his chin, marvelling at the rhythmic rising and falling of his breathing, the faint beat of his heart. She moved her hand slowly to the pure white band that encircled his neck. She followed the soft curve, watching in awe as her fingers all but disappeared in his thick pelt.
She frowned when she encountered an obvious dip in the centre of his chest. She ran her finger gently up and down the slight indentation. A scar. In the exact same spot where Dimitri had plunged the Blade of Order, rending his flesh, and taking his life. Her hand began to tremble as she remembered.
He gently took hold of her trembling hand, turning it slowly as if studying some rare and exotic treasure. She watched the play of emotions on his face. He looked as confused as she was. She had to stifle a giggle as he began to sniff her fingers. She let out a tiny surprised gasp as he began to gently kiss her fingertips. It struck her as a rather romantic gesture, and romantic gestures were not something she would have ever associated with him.
She gasped again as she felt his other hand gently touch her chest, just above her heart. She looked up at him, eyes wide, as for the first time in almost a year she felt the instinctive hum of the Soultouch. He gazed at her with equally wonder filled eyes. As she studied his face, she realised just how haggard he looked, as if he were on the very brink of exhaustion.
She stepped closer to him as she began to feel suddenly light-headed. She gripped his arm tightly for fear of falling as her legs began to buckle. He cupped her face with both strong hands, his touch somehow managing to keep her on her feet.
She gently touched his face, the skin soft beneath her fingers. His muzzle, usually a healthy tan colour from hours spent in the sun, was pale, almost pasty.
Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy as he slowly lowered his softly beaked face. She raised her own face towards him.
"This can't be real..." she whispered. "But..." She placed a hand over her heart.
"Trust your heart." He said softly. "It will never lead you wrong."
He gently tilted her head back. She could feel his breath, smell it, taste it, as he drew her mouth to his. Though they had kissed before, even passionately, those kisses couldn't compare to this. There was such a purity to this one. And as they melted into each other's arms, she knew for sure what storybooks spoke of, when they told of true love's kiss.
The logical part of her brain told her she was dreaming. She knew she was. It was the only way to explain the presence of the evil one, lost to another dimension, and this one, lost forever. But she didn't care.
It may only be a dream, but it was HER dream.
~~~~~
Sally looked at Julie-Su. The echidna had been in an odd mood all morning, swinging from blissfully happy to completely morose. She was currently sitting on the edge of a walkway, swinging her booted feet above the still water below it, absently twisting on one of her thick spines. She sighed deeply as Sally approached.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she sat down beside her.
"I'm fine," she replied softly, staring as the water beneath her feet.
"No you're not," Sally protested at the echidna's response. "You've been acting weird all day. You've been swinging from one extreme to another. What's wrong?"
"You wouldn't understand." She said softly, still refusing to meet her friend's eyes.
"Try me." Sally challenged.
Julie-Su raised her head. Sally was taken aback by the strangely haunted look in the echidna's lavender eyes. "I had a dream..."
"About...him?" Sally guessed. It had been nearly a year, and she still had difficulty saying his name, especially around Julie-Su. Nobody could tell just how she was coping. Except for her brief outburst with Sonic, she'd shown nothing. To Sally's knowledge, she hadn't even shed a tear for her lost love.
"Yeah," she confirmed.
"It's hardly surprising," Sally said. "I've had a few about him myself," she lowered her head. "About how I failed him...that there must have been some other way..."
"It wasn't the first one," she admitted. "But it seemed so real," she paused, lowering her head. "HE seemed so real."
She looked off into the distance. "I could touch him, I can still remember the way his fur felt under my fingers. I could hear his heart beating." She sighed. "All morning, I've been trying to figure out what it all meant. The weirdest thing about it was that he looked different."
"How so?"
"He was taller, and really thin, like he hadn't eaten properly for months. And he looked exhausted. There were really dark circles under his eyes. And he was so pale...almost sickly. Which got me thinking, why would my mind conjure up something like that? You'd think I'd idealise him or something. The perfect image, without any flaws. So why did I see him as an emaciated wreak?"
"Maybe you were visualising him the way you think he'd be now." Sally suggested. "If he hadn't..." She trailed off, unable to finish the thought, much less the sentence.
"Maybe," Julie-Su agreed. "His fur was thicker, too. And he had a scar..."
"A scar?"
"Right here," Julie-Su ran her finger from the hollow of her throat to the middle of her chest.
"Where he was..." Sally began.
"But the truly amazing part was I could FEEL him." She put a fist to her heart.
"The Soultouch?" Sally whispered. Julie-Su nodded in conformation.
"And he looked at me in exactly the same way I looked at him. He looked confused, like he knew we shouldn't be together, that we were part of two different worlds." She chuckled to herself. "And his breath smelt like strawberries." She said in a whisper.
"What was that?"
She looked at Sally. "His breath smelt like strawberries." Noticing the stunned look on the princess's face she smiled impishly. "He tasted like strawberries, too."
"Tasted?"
"Yeah," she sighed. "Even his kiss felt real."
"You kissed him?"
"Well, we kissed each other..." she sighed deeply. "And then I woke up." Her face fell. "And I realised, a dream is all I'm ever gonna get."
~~~~~
"She okay?" Sonic asked as Sally sat down beside him. He was going through his daily therapeutic exercises. He was progressing nicely. He could walk quite easily now, even though he still needed a cane. But, with his stubborn streak, he was determined to get rid of that as well.
"I think so," Sally sighed. "She's just a little depressed. She had a dream about him last night."
"HIM him?"
"Yeah," Sally confirmed.
"That's weird," Sonic frowned. "So did I."
"You had a dream about...him?"
"Yeah. At least, I think it was him. It looked like him. Sorta. But, he was different..."
"Let me guess..." she tapped her chin with a finger. "He was taller and thinner."
"He was taller." Sonic admitted. "But he looked like he'd really been hitting the steroids. And he was kinda creepy..." He looked at her. "What made you say he was taller?"
"That's how Julie-Su described him."
"Now, that's weird."
"Tell me about it, the dream, I mean."
"Okay," he shrugged. "I was in this jungle..."
~~~~~
The trees seemed to close in from all sides. Impossibly tall, impossibly dark. He didn't know why, but he was compelled to move as fast as he could. He couldn't say how, but he knew he was being followed.
Something moved quickly in the trees above his head, distracting him. The distraction proved potentially fatal, as he returned his attention to the path in front of him to come face to face with several stern faced echidnas.
They were all males, all a deep magenta, and dressed in some type of ancient tribal attire, consisting of brightly coloured fabric and some kind of long, dry grass. They babbled to one another in a strange, guttural language that he couldn't understand. But their tone of voice, their expressions and their brandished weapons all indicated that they weren't particularly happy to see him.
They took a firm grip on his wrists and ankles and began carrying him through the dense vegetation.
"Ah, guys," he said to them, "can we talk about this? Some of my best friends are echidnas."
They carried him to an elaborate and ancient city. The walls were decorated with beautiful carvings, inlaid with brightly coloured stones. They carried him to the centre of the city, to the steps of a huge pyramid. He looked up and shuddered. Carved around the pyramid's tall spire was a sickeningly familiar sight. A dragon-like creature that appeared to be made of water.
"Chaos." He whispered.
A large, dark-furred echidna, his face hidden behind a tribal mask that reminded him of the Ancient Walkers, studied him. He said something in that strange language. His captors deposited him on a large stone, an ancient altar, clamping thick metal shackles around his wrists and ankles. He struggled against his bonds, but found he couldn't move.
"This can't be good." He said as he looked up at the spire towering above him. The carving of Chaos seemed to be smirking at him.
The dark-furred echidna produced a wicked looking knife.
"This is DEFINITELY not good." He said. "C'mon, Sonic, this is where you wake up!"
A pretty, peach-coloured echidna ran to the dark-furred one. She grabbed his wrist.
"Tikal?" Sonic whispered. She glanced at him quickly, frowning at his familiarity, but returned her attention to the dark-furred male.
Her babbling sounded pleading to Sonic's ears. She didn't want him to do it. But the dark-furred echidna just swatted her away, returning his attentions to his captive.
He held the knife up high, shouting to the sky above. He was just about to plunge the blade into his victim's heart, when a voice rang out from across the city.
"Wondandi!" It said.
"What the heck's a wondandi?" Sonic wondered to himself.
The dark-furred echidna turned to the one who had spoken. Tikal seemed to sigh with relief. The dark-furred echidna did not seemed pleased by the newcomer's intervention. Sonic turned his head, but could not see who it was that had halted the proceedings.
He heard a rush of wind and a gentle thump, and another echidna walked into his line of vision. He wasn't nearly as big as the dark-furred one, though he was still a decent size for an echidna. The magenta ones seemed afraid of him. Tikal looked at him with quiet awe. Like the dark one, he wore a tribal mask. His arms and dreadlocks were marked with coloured bands.
The two began arguing, vehemently, gesturing towards him, still immobilised on the slab. The newcomer was obviously on his side. The dark one gestured towards the carving. The newcomer growled something, obviously not caring for Chaos. The magenta ones gasped, and readied their weapons. The newcomer noticed them, his shoulders sagging slightly. Their faces set in angry masks, they advanced on him.
"Kudnatendi." The newcomer said in a soft voice.
He leapt onto the altar as one of the magenta echidnas lunged at him. He kicked several away as they swung their weapons.
"It...seem..." the newcomer said, in halting Mobian standard, as if searching for the right words, "I outstay my...welcome." Green lightening danced from his fingertips, shattering the shackles. He grabbed Sonic and flung the newly freed ex-sacrifice over his shoulder. He conjured up a crackling ball of emerald energy to deter the magenta echidnas and their leader.
"Come," he said, "we must to be absent."
He jumped from the altar and ran to the edge of the pyramid. Sonic screamed as he noticed the dizzying drop. But, miraculously, they didn't fall. This echidna could fly.
Spears, arrows, and anything else that could be thrown, whizzed past them. But Sonic paid them no mind. His eyes wide, he grabbed his would-be saviour's wrist, twisting his hand to get a better look, and discovering the sharp spurs above his index and little fingers. He grabbed the mask, trying to pull it free.
"No so grabby," the echidna said. "We fall!"
"Then land!"
The echidna did as was requested and Sonic tore the mask free, revealing the face, and the white collar ring of his long lost friend.
"Is happy now?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Knuckles?" He whispered.
"Be long time I hear that." He sighed. "Here call me Ngulti Parrandi."
"What does that mean?"
"Night Fire." He translated. "Say me fur like fire, but have moon at throat."
"But, how can this be? I mean, you're kinda...dead."
"Is dream," he shrugged. "All possible." He studied him for a moment. "Why no use speed? Zip 'way, toot sweet?"
"I don't have it any more." He said softly.
"Hurt bad?"
"Yeah, I got caught in the blast when you and Dimitri..."
Knuckles nodded sagely. "All what lost come back soon time." He said. "But now, you must to go."
"Go? Go where?"
"Back with others," the echidna lowered his head. "Missed ones." He said softly.
"You miss us?"
He nodded. "Be gone long, hurt no change." He turned his head, his eyes were wild when he turned back. "They come!" He said.
"But, how do I get back? Do I just wake up?"
"I help." He closed his eyes and held out his hands, his palms towards the heavens. His brows knit as he concentrated. A soft emerald glow began to emanate from his outstretched hands. The light began to twist and coil, forming a shimmering tunnel. At the end of the portal, Sonic could see the Great Forest, and nestled within, Knothole Village. His home.
"How did you do that?" Sonic asked in awe, turning to his friend.
Knuckles opened his eyes and lowered his hands. He gazed through the portal with shining eyes. There was such a look of absolute longing on the echidna's face, Sonic felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.
"You want to go home." He said.
"Cannot," the echidna sighed, shaking his heavy head. "Time not." He placed a large hand over his heart. "When see twice."
Sonic frowned at his words. 'Man,' he thought, 'the Ancient Walkers are easier to understand.'
They both turned to the sound of crunching leaves. The magenta echidnas, weapons raised, broke through the underbrush.
"Wakey now."
Sally frowned. "He sounds so sad." She said softly. "But then, if I had to leave everything I ever cared about, I guess I'd be sad too."
"Yeah," Sonic sighed. "The look on his face when he saw Knothole...if I weren't such a macho dude, I'd say it've broken my heart."
"Two dreams in the one night," Sally mused. "It can't be a coincidence."
"Ah, Sally?"
The pair turned to see Tails.
"Hey, bud," Sonic smiled. "Didn't see you come in."
"How long have you been here?" Sally asked.
"Long enough," the little fox sat down beside his friends. "And it's three, not two."
"You had one too?" Sally asked. Tails nodded.
"This is getting creepy," Sonic shuddered. "Was he taller in yours too."
"No," Tails shook his head. "In fact he was a lot shorter..."
~~~~~
Tails walked through the dark, dank caverns. A phosphorescent moss on the walls was the only source of illumination. He didn't know how he'd got there, or how he was going to get out. He just decided to follow his nose.
He walked, it seemed, for hours, when finally, up ahead, he saw a much brighter light. He ran towards it, hoping it was a way out. Instead, he stepped into a large, crystalline cavern. The walls, the floors, the ceiling, were all made of a luminescent, pure white crystal. Large shard-like formations jutted out in every direction. He turned in a circle as he reached the middle of the cavern.
"It's beautiful." He whispered in awe.
A tightly packed series of greenish crystal formations caught his eye. The crystals were arranged in such a way that they resembled a nest. The impression only reinforced by the almost spherical object nestled within. It was about a foot in circumference, and glowed faintly green. Tails reached out a tentative hand to touch it. It was smooth, and surprisingly warm. It shifted slightly under his fingers.
It WAS an egg. And it seemed whatever was inside wanted out.
It rocked more violently, and Tails reflexively snatched his hand away. A tiny bulge appeared in the smooth surface. Tails was about to lean forward to examine it more closely, when a tiny fist punched through the leathery shell. The hand dropped back down immediately, before he could get a good look at it.
Tails watched in awe as tiny fingers curled around the opening that had just been made, and began tugging at the shell. It tore easily under the occupant's gentle touch. The fingers disappeared, withdrawing back into the egg. Tails backed away as something much larger tore the shell. The creature within had head-butted its tiny prison. It twisted its shoulders through the opening. Its arms, dripping with a greenish goo, flicked out. Tiny hands clamped firmly onto the crystal formations. With a tremendous strength for one so small, it hauled itself out of its egg, kicking away the remains of its shell with large powerful feet.
Tails stared at the tiny creature. Its fur was matted with the strange greenish goo. It was impossible for the little fox to determine just what the creature was. It flicked its head, watching as a large glob of the goo splattered against the crystalline wall. Bracing itself, it shook its entire body. Tails yelped and ducked for cover as the entire room was sprayed with the green muck.
Tails peered out from his hiding place to find the tiny creature sitting quietly in its nest, its back to him. It was studying its hand, chewing on its fingers. It was still slick with the goo, but no longer dripping with it. It lifted its head, sniffing the air. It turned towards him, studying him with large dark eyes. Its face split into a delighted grin. It shifted its body and held out its little arms to him.
Tails' eyes widened as he got his first good look at the creature. It was an echidna. He reached out one hand towards it. Its tiny hand wrapped around his finger. Tails gasped as he noticed the two tiny spurs that crowned its fingers. He rubbed the goo from the newly hatched echidna's chest, receiving a happy giggle for his efforts, and revealed the white band at his throat.
He pulled back, the little arms still reaching for him. Tails looked into the infant's wide violet eyes. They were full of such trust. "You remember me, don't you?" He gently picked up the echidna, who immediately snuggled into his chest. Tails groaned as the green muck matted his fur.
Knuckles looked up at him with innocent eyes. "Man, you sure changed when you got older." He said. He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm holding a baby that was born five years before I was." He sighed as Knuckles' eyelids drooped. The infant echidna yawned, and, cooing softly to himself, settled in for a nap.
Suddenly his eyes snapped opened. He began squirming in Tails' arms. His wide, startled eyes searching, his little nose sniffing the air.
"What is it?"
"You'll find babies are like that, child," a soothing voice spoke.
Tails turned to face an echidna he'd never seen before. His dreadlocks were decorated in an elaborate manner, wrapped in something Tails couldn't identify. Tiny golden cups were fitted to the ends. His smile was warm, but there was something about his eyes that Tails didn't like.
"They never know what they want." He continued as he walked towards them. "Why, my son was such a little fusspot at that age..." he reached for the infant, but Knuckles shrank away from him. Tails frowned. There was something familiar about this guy. And it was obvious that Knuckles didn't like him.
"Who are you?" Tails asked softly.
"I've come for the child," he explained. Tails winced as Knuckles' tiny hands twisted in his fur. The tiny echidna was shaking his head.
"I don't think he wants to go with you." Tails said, noticing the fearful look in Knuckles' violet eyes.
"Come now, boy," the echidna smiled. "He'd be much better off with me. I have experience with babies, I'm a father myself. And I AM an echidna as well. Not to mention the fact that..." He reached again for the infant echidna. Knuckles let out a defiant but terrified yelp as the adult's hand brushed him, "...he IS family."
'Family?'
Tails jerked away, putting himself between Knuckles and the adult. He looked into the echidna's cold eyes. "Dimitri." He hissed, backing away, he wrapped his arms more protectively around Knuckles.
The echidna's eyes widened. "Give me the brat, boy!" He growled. "He belongs with me."
"No way, banana beak!" Tails said.
"He is no longer part of the living world." Dimitri hissed. "He has been claimed by the icy hand of death."
Tails looked around frantically. There was an opening in the ceiling, but he couldn't see where it went. 'Anywhere's got to be better than here.' Tails reasoned. "Hang on, kid," he said to Knuckles. "We're going for a ride." He began spinning his namesake, lifting above Dimitri's head. "Later, dipstick."
He burst through the tiny opening, into daylight. Knuckles smiled at him, clapping his tiny hands together. "You know, Knux," he said. "You really should avoid any family reunions. That guy is bad news."
The smile faded from Knuckles face and he let out a tiny squeak. Tails rolled his eyes. "Not again." He spun around to find Dimitri, now in the hulking cyborg form he knew, clambering out of the dark hole.
"I won't let you take him back!" The cyborg growled. "He destroyed everything I fought so hard for. He deserves to share eternal damnation with me!"
"Take him back?" Tails queried. "I can take him back? That's why he's a baby, isn't it? He's been reborn!"
"You idiot!" Dimitri hissed. "He hasn't been reborn. He can't die. That little freak is a living Chaos Emerald. Chaos energy is infinite."
Tails looked at Knuckles' innocent face. "He's immortal." He whispered.
"Perhaps," Dimitri admitted. "But even he's not powerful enough to break out of the underworld without help."
"What kind of help?"
Dimitri laughed. "You honestly think I'd tell you that. I want the brat to suffer. And I can't think of a better way than to keep him from everything he cares about. His home, his family, his friends…" He sneered as he focused deeply on the infant's violet eyes. "His one true love…"
Tails looked at Knuckles' face. He could see the pain and torment in his dark eyes. Tails smiled at him.
"C'mon on, Knux, I'm taking you home."
He twisted his tails and lifted into the air. Dimitri growled and started hurling rocks at the fox. "I…won't…let…you!" A large chunk struck Tails' temple. He screamed as Knuckles fell from his grasp. He dove after him. Dimitri smiled and reached up to catch him. Knuckles crossed his tiny arms across his chest. He closed his eyes and began to glow. His dreadlocks danced about his head. He hovered above Dimitri's head, just tantalisingly out of reach.
Tails slowed to a hover beside him. He reached out to take him, but the emerald barrier Knuckles had thrown up to save himself wouldn't let him touch him.
'You cannot take me back this way,' Knuckles voice echoed inside his head. 'This is a dream, it is not real. I can find my own way, but I need the hope and love of those I left behind to guide me.'
~~~~~
"So, you see," Tails said, "he's not dead, he never was, he's just…trapped …between life and death."
"Tails," Sally sighed, "it was a dream. You can't take dreams on face value."
"He said he needs our love to guide him," Sonic mused. "I don't think a day goes by that one of us doesn't think about him. So if that were true, he'd be back by now."
"But we thought of him as dead," Tails protested. "He needs our hope as well. While we think of him as dead, we have no hope of seeing him again…"
"Tails," Sally said softly, "You saw what that power surge did to Sonic," she glanced at the hedgehog, "there's no way he could have survived."
"But he's IMMORTAL!" Tails protested.
"He's NOT immortal," Sally sighed. "Nobody lives forever…"
"But it is rather strange that three of us had dreams about him in the one night." Sonic said. "He was powerful…maybe he was trying to get through to us…warn us about something…" he frowned. "'All what lost come back soon time'."
"What was that?" Tails asked.
"He said that in my dream." Sonic explained. "In your dream, he said he needed us to guide him home. In mine, he said everything we lost was coming back soon." He looked at Sally. "What did he say to Julie-Su?"
"She didn't go in to great detail," Sally admitted. "But I don't think he said anything to her."
"He said to trust my heart."
"Jeez," Sonic put a hand to his chest, "don't do that."
"Anything else?" Sally asked as Julie-Su walked quietly into the room.
The echidna smiled strangely, her eyes distant.
"No."
~~~~~
From a place both far away and very close, between sleep and waking, between now and then, three beings watched unseen.
