Chapter 2 - An Unlikely Reunion

At the restaurant Taffy and the mammals sat at a table, waiting for their order.
"This is nice and all," said Knuckles, "but how will we find Epiphany and Cain from here?"

"If Lerich checked in," Taffy said, "once we find him, they shouldn't be far off."

"But we need to think of a plan," Tails said, "we somehow need to blend in without him noticing so we can have time to find him."

"If I were a wizard," Taffy said, "then I'd probably be able to help with that."

As their order arrived, they only paused the conversation momentarily.

"It barely helped us," Cream pointed out. At this moment, Knuckles was trying to use his chopsticks to pick up the noodles in his ramen, only to drop them in. Taffy then handed him a soup spoon. 

"Though I must admit," Taffy said, "you're all very brave. Braver than I've ever been, in fact."

"We've been through several adventures," Sonic said, "so even though it's normal for us, we still know people see our bravery."

"I guess a life of risk isn't for everyone," Taffy said, "but sometimes I wish I could live that way for just a moment."

And at that moment, Tails tapped on Sonic's shoulder and directed his attention to a person at another table reading a newspaper with Lerich's picture on the front cover with theirs next to it. The other three picked up on this as well.

They all hunkered down, as if trying to seem invisible.

"We better get to bed," Tails said.

"But you hardly touched your food," Taffy said.

"We're more tired than hungry," Sonic added, "it's been a long day, and I'm sure there's a fridge in our room to save it in."

Later that night in the hotel room, only Taffy was able to sleep. The rest of them were still contemplating how they could get to their friends without drawing attention to themselves in the hotel. Because they knew that no one could exactly miss five short Mobian mammals walking around a predominantly human-filled hotel.

While Amy was sitting by the window, she noticed a figure moving outside. It peaked her curiosity as it seemed to disappear.
 
Then, she heard something hit the window, like a pebble.
The sound was heard again but a few seconds after. Before it could happen again, Amy opened the glass balcony door and looked around.

"Hello?" she said in a hushed voice.

"Hello," the figure said back, in an equally hushed voice, sounding like a preteen boy's, "come down here and we'll talk."

By this time, the other mammals had followed her on to the balcony deck.

"Are you sure we should?" Knuckles asked.

"We'll just hear him out," Amy said, "he sounds harmless enough."

Sonic, Amy, Cream and Tails followed the hooded one, but Knuckles stayed behind, but only for a few seconds, before jumping down off the balcony with them as well.

"I'm glad you've arrived," he said to the mammals, "I've heard so much about you."

"You have?" Sonic asked skeptically, not quite understanding how. He was certain they've never met.

"You were involved with Majorka's School of Magicry, when you were falsely accused of murder," the young man continued, "I've been studying magic myself, but I'd never use them for bad, that's what the house named Demontail is likely to do."

"You've also been in Majorka's school of Magicry?" Tails asked.

"Yes," the hooded lad answered, "before I was separated from my two friends. But I think I might be able to help you find yours and do so effectively."
 
"Ok, let me get this straight," Knuckles said, "we followed you all the way out here without even knowing what your intentions are, let alone your name, so tell us, why we should let you get involved?"

The young man took off his hood and revealed his face. He had blue eyes, and scruffy hair that had a rat tail in back. "My name is Tani," he said to them, "I've been said to have been dead after I'd been abducted by Lerich Snomis some years back, but I escaped."

"Oh, we've heard of you from your two friends back at Majorika's Magicry School," Amy said.

"Epiphany and Cain? It's been a while since I've seen them," Tani said, a bit glad to hear of this, "how are they doing?"

"Last time we've seen them, they were captured by Lerich" Tails said. 

"And," said Tani, "they recently said he was dead."

"That was just some story published to give us a bad rep," Sonic said.

"Yes, I am aware," Tani said, "they like to twist up the stories, probably to juice things up, but that just ends up giving everyone the wrong idea. But I can help you clear your names and find Epiphany and Cain. And with such ease, you'd blend in so well, you might as well be invisible."

"You have an invisibility potion with you?" Amy asked.

"No, but I have something even better," Tani said, "after all, you'll need them to talk to you and reveal some secrets."

He then reached into his robe pockets and took out five small bottles with corks in them. 

"A friend of mine recommended these," he told them, "they'll change your form to disguise you."

"But those type of potions only work for humans," Cream said.

"This is different," Tani told her, "this isn't a potion, they're jars of essence. They work spiritually. Tomorrow morning, go down to the manager's office and tell him Tani sent you down. If he's the right guy, he'll know that to do and put you to work right away."

"The right guy?" Amy asked.

"He has a brother. One always tells the truth, the other one always lies. You have to be sharp and on your toes to find the right one."

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