"The Amulet of the Four Winds"
Authors: Robert Brown and Francis Tolbert
Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Sega of
America, Inc. and Archie Comics (except where noted, in which case
they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have
permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for
this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as
long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express
written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to
profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it
will be considered a violation of copyright law.
Author's Note: You know, there are just some things in life you can't predict,
and there are times where you feel like everything is crashing down on you at
once. This is one of those times. Once again, I'm jobless. My sister just
got out of the hospital for a life-threatening illness, and the doctors still
don't agree on just what it was! I also lost my grandmother this June (2003)
and my aunt is having trouble surviving on her own without someone to watch
over. And to top it all off, I still try to find time to write! It's a
wonder I haven't ended up in the looney bin yet....not that they'd take me,
I'd scare everyone off!
A quick comment about something you'll see in this story, and
in future ones. I've altered a famous chant from an animé series to our own
purposes, with no disrespect intended to the creator. But the chant as it
stood couldn't be used, and those in the know will see why. Bonus points to
anyone who can tell me where I got it from. Till next time, Happy Reading!
Cast of Characters (in order of appearance)
Krella###
Tanin###
Desirée D'Coolette***
DJ Osaya###
Nadia Osaya***
Darrin D'Coolette***
Charleen Oster###
Queen Sally Alicia Hedgehog
King Sonic Hedgehog
Antoine D'Coolette
Prince Juice Hedgehog***
Princess Alicia Rose Hedgehog***
Bunnie D'Coolette
Angela Shi-rat***
Donovan Osaya###
Tanis Shi-rat***
Miles "M3" Prower III***
Sarah Prower***
Princess Sondra Acorn-Prower***
Miles "Tails" Prower
Amy Rose
?????
The Unholy One***
Charisma###
Rotor
Rosa***
Nicholas###
Lily###
Destín###
Maxwell Kavenoff###
Hugo###
Dulcy
Knuckles Echidna
Julie-Su Echidna
James Echidna***
#35
It has been two months since the last attempt to secure an artifact, two
months spent in painstaking training and preparations. Just as the Chosen
Ones have trained, so have the Fallen Ones. And now, they were ready to go on
the hunt once more. Only one thing stood in their way.
"This is impossible," Krella nearly snarled, turning the pages of the
book in front of her so harshly she nearly ripped them. "I knew the artifacts
would all be difficult to get to, but nothing like this!"
"I thought you would be resting by now," Tanin said as he stepped out of
a dark whirlwind right by Krella's shoulder.
Krella jumped up in surprise, the titian fur on her tail standing on end.
"I wish you wouldn't do that!" Krella nearly yelled in her strong voice, the
one she usually kept just for missions.
"And I wish you wouldn't work yourself to exhaustion," Tanin returned
calmly. "You know what happened the last time you did that."
Krella blanched slightly and sat down in her chair. "You don't
understand Tanin," she said, her voice reverting to its normal soft-spoken
tone. "I've found the two artifacts we can use to recharge the Wind Emerald,
but there's a problem with each."
"And what problem is that?" Tanin asked, stepping behind her and
beginning to lightly massage her shoulders.
Krella made a soft noise of thanks as she felt Tanin's hands relieving
some of the built up tension. "Both of these places are going to be extremely
hard to get to. They're in such desolate or remote places that even you
couldn't teleport there safely by yourself, much less with all of us. There's
too much a chance of you ending up buried in stone or something. And not only
that, none of us have what it takes to get past the defenses placed around
these artifacts."
"You're going to have to tell Father you know," Tanin stated, letting
his hands fall to his sides. "Maybe he has some ideas."
"Let me try a few more scenarios," Krella pleaded. "I'm sure I can
figure it out. I know, I know," she added, seeing Tanin about to speak, "I
won't overwork myself. If I do, you have full permission to put me to sleep
for as long as you see fit."
"And I will hold you to that. I'll come to collect you in two hours.
I'll expect you to be done by then."
Krella nodded and turned back to the book in front of her. Somewhere in
the back of her mind, the tiniest of voices wailed about the absence of
Tanin's touch, but it was quickly swallowed up by the research she was doing.
In another part of Mobius, the Great Library to be exact, both DJ and
Desirée had come to the exact same discoveries that Krella had. But where
Krella saw nothing but an impasse, they saw opportunity. "The Amulet of the
Four Winds," Desirée read as DJ's finger followed along with the words.
"Created long ago in an attempt to harness the power of the winds, this charm
was placed deep within the tunnel that would become the Breath of Mobius. But
unknown to the creator, the power of the winds was so great that the amulet
could never be recovered. And so it has lain there, in its windy prison,
forever storing up energy needed by a civilization long gone and nearly
forgotten."
DJ looked at Desirée expectantly, waiting for her to make the connection
that he already had. "The Breath of Mobius...." she said after a moment's
hard thought. "I know I've heard that name before. Wait a minute, didn't the
Freedom Fighters once go there for some reason?"
DJ nodded and smiled. They'd all heard the story of that adventure time
and again. From Rotor making the plane they needed, to the challenges they
faced, to Sonic flying the plane back. DJ knew the story by heart, especially
since it had been one of Nadine's favorites.
His face immediately grew sad as he thought of his missing sister, a
change Desirée immediately noticed. A soft glance into his light purple eyes
told her all she needed to know. "Missing your sister again, huh?" she asked
quietly, her voice picking up a slight huskiness in its softness. At DJ's nod
she hugged him to her, resting his cheek against the bare fur of her chest
that her jumpsuit did not cover. "Oh DJ," she whispered, bending her head
over his to offer what support she could.
DJ leaned into Desirée's comforting hug, wrapping his arms around her
waist. They both stayed like that for a while, neither wanting to move. They
both knew that this felt right, to be in each other's arms like this. But
neither one could dare to believe that the other felt the same.
They had become so lost in their embrace that they both failed to notice
the soft sound of footsteps following the thread they had left to mark their
way. Nadia had come to the library to check on the progress of these two,
expecting to find them hard at work. When she saw then locked in a hug, she
cleared her throat causing the two of them to jump apart. "I trust I'm not
interrupting anything?" she asked, one eyebrow raised slightly.
"No, nothing at all," Desirée answered honestly. "In fact, we'd just
found something that we think the Fallen Ones would be going after."
Nadia took the book Desirée indicated with no small amount of skepticism
in her face. The little "girl talk" Nadia had promised Desirée had failed to
come around as of yet, but Nadia was always waiting for her opportunity to
arise. But her skepticism vanished when she saw what they'd found. "Yes,
this sounds perfect," she muttered, making quick notes in her mind. "Come on,
we'd better get back. I'm sure the king and queen will want to know about
this at once."
Desirée and DJ hurriedly got to their feet, falling into step behind a
quickly striding Nadia. "While I'm glad you found this," Nadia said over her
shoulder as she rewound the ball of string, "it still doesn't explain why you
were hugging my son like that."
"It was just that he was remembering how Nadine loved that story,"
Desirée said, her hand finding its way to DJ's and holding on. "If I remember
right, that was the one she always told him at night."
Nadia's stride faltered for a moment, and she looked back at DJ with a
tear in her eye. "I'm sorry, I should've remembered that." She wiped the
tear away as they reached the main doors. "Even so Desirée, was it really
necessary to hug his head into your chest?"
Desirée looked at the back of Nadia's head, not understanding what she
meant. But when it hit her, her cheeks blushed the exact color of her
jumpsuit. Occasionally she did hug DJ like that in fun, but this was the
first time she had done it without realizing it. A sidelong glance at DJ
showed that most of his face was the color hers was as well. He just looked
so cute like that that she cupped his chin with her free hand and brought his
cheek to her lips, kissing him soundly. DJ looked at her in surprise, the
blush even more prevalent on his cheeks.
Nadia nearly jerked DJ out of Desirée's grip and examined his cheek
closely. A vague imprint of Desirée's lips resided on his cheek in perfect
pink. She traced it with her finger, and DJ's eyes widened, realizing what
was there. But they just as quickly dimmed as he thought it was nothing more
than an accident or a mistake, just as he thought everytime she left a
lipstick mark on his cheek in the past three months. What neither he nor his
mother saw was the look of seriousness that burned in Desirée's eyes as she
stared at the mark just before they teleported away.
Appearing right near the Osaya's rooms, Nadia led them directly to the
War Room. She pulled a communicator from her pocket and turned it on. "We
have a hit on the wind artifacts," she said into it. "Everyone gather at the
War Room as soon as you can."
"I will be there soon," Darrin said into his communicator and turned it
off. He turned toward the feline beside him with an apologetic smile. "I
have to go," he told her softly, standing up from where he reclined next to
her.
Charleen looked up at him as he stood, disappointment shining in her
green eyes. "I understand," she said, smoothing out a wrinkle in the picnic
blanket she sat upon. "At least we got to enjoy some of our picnic first."
Darrin nodded and helped her to her feet. "Maybe we can try again next
week?"
Charleen hugged him and kissed his cheek lightly. "You'd better go, I
don't want your mom to give me another of her 'talks.'" Darrin chuckled
halfheartedly. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as well and hurried back into
the palace. It was a short walk from the lawn, but it felt strangely long
today.
As he walked to the War Room to join up with the others, Darrin thought
about the past month and the time he'd spent getting to know Charleen. She
had been very eager to get to know him, and Darrin couldn't help but feel that
it was because he had saved her life. For that reason he had tried to keep
his distance at first, not wanting her to feel obligated to him in any way.
He explained that to her very carefully and she had understood, though perhaps
a bit hurt by it.
A week had passed and he'd heard nothing from her. Then one day as he
was relaxing from his training before going on duty there was a knock on the
main door. Barely stifling a groan, he'd gotten up to answer it and been
shocked at who was on the other side. "Hi," Charleen had said, "can I come
in? I was hoping we could talk?"
Darrin had moved aside, allowing her to enter. She turned around to
face him as he closed the door, nervously plucking at a loose thread of her
dress. They did talk then, and for a while too. It was nearly two hours
before Darrin realized he had completely missed his rounds and would have to
answer to his father for it later. But there was no doubt it had been two of
the best hours in his life.
Charleen had finally made him see that though she was grateful to him
for saving her life, she was also moved by his kindness in spending the night
and not taking advantage of her when she was vulnerable. Not too many guys
she knew back home would've been so kind, so she wanted to get to know him
better. Not because of what he had done, but because of who he was.
The last three weeks had been spent doing just that, and Darrin was
beginning to feel the first tugs of love at his heart. He enjoyed the time
they spent together, and missed her when they were apart. He had clearly
expressed to her his desire to take things slow, especially because of what
was going on. She understood completely, but they had promised each other
never to deny their hearts if they knew it was right, no matter the situation.
Darrin somehow managed to set aside all this as he entered the War Room,
focusing his mind clearly on the task at hand. Sally nodded as he sat down
next to Juice from where she sat with the other Freedom Fighters at the head
of the table. "Now that we're all here," she said, rising to her feet, "we
can begin."
"Wait a minute, where's Tails and Sondra?" Nadia asked.
"I sent them with their kids on a special errand for me," Bunnie said
with a secretive smirk. "Desirée, if you would?"
"In the research I did with DJ," she said, flashing him a smile, "we
uncovered an old legend about the Breath of Mobius. Seems there's an amulet
deep inside the tunnel. It was made to absorb some of the wind's power, so
we think it would be perfect to recharge the Emerald. In other words, a prime
target for the Fallen Ones."
"Breath of Mobius," Sonic muttered, rubbing his chin. "Hey wait, isn't
that in Maga?"
"Indeed it is," Antoine said. "And it is also the reason we will never
let you near the controls of a plane again."
All the Freedom Fighters that were there chuckled, though the Chosen
Ones looked rather confused. "We didn't hear this part of it," Juice said,
scratching his head.
"We'll worry about it later," Alicia said, shushing her brother. "Right
now we have to find a way to get that amulet."
"Exactly," Bunnie said, cutting off Juice's retort before he could even
think of one. "You've all heard the story of how we got the Secret Scrolls
from up there by using the plane Rotor built. Unless I miss my guess, isn't
it in the museum or something Sally-girl?"
Sally tore her eyes away from Angela's hand on Juice's arm as the young
Shi-rat calmed her love. "Huh? Oh, right Bunnie, but I doubt the thing still
works. We'd have to get Rotor in here to fix it."
"Umm, Mom," Alicia said, standing, "if you're calling Rotor in to fix
the plane, shouldn't you just have him fly us in with a couple dragons?"
"Maybe, but I think this will be a good learning experience for you.
You need to experience things as we did, it'll test how well you've learned
your lessons."
Alicia considered this a while, talking it over with the others. While
they were discussing it, Donovan's communicator buzzed. He pulled it out of
his pocket and spoke intently into it, glad for something to do. He hadn't
even been part of the Freedom Fighters at that time so had no input whatsoever
in this decision. If truth be told, he'd much rather have been in the
security room all this time.
But what he heard from the guards stationed in the room made him glad he
wasn't. He shoved it back in his pocket and crept to the door. Tanis, also
not part of this discussion and simply in attendance because his daughter was,
noticed him leaving and opened his mouth to ask something. A quick gesture by
Donovan stopped him though, and Donovan left without anyone else noticing his
departure.
Just as Alicia and the others reached their decision, a frightened yelp
sounded right outside the window. Everyone looked to the window in surprise
but Darrin, recognizing the voice, jumped out through the window, sword drawn,
landing lightly on his feet. "What are you doing?" he demanded, the point of
his sword at Donovan's throat.
"Take it easy!" Donovan yelled, backing away and pulling the girl whose
wrist he held with him. "You mind putting that thing away?"
"Let her go," Darrin said, ignoring the yells of the others from within
the room.
Donovan released her, holding his hands up in front of him defensively.
"OK, can you put the sword down now so I can explain?"
Darrin turned to Charleen who was now hiding behind him. "Are you all
right?" he asked softly.
Charleen nodded, then backed away as Darrin's sword was knocked from his
hand. "What do you think you are doing?" Antoine demanded, sheathing his own
sword. "What possessed you to draw your sword on Donovan like that?"
"He was hurting Charleen," Darrin answered, rubbing his hand while
glaring at his father.
"And why would he possibly do that?"
"My surveillance buzzer went off," Donovan explained. "I got word
someone was eavesdropping outside the window. I came out and saw that she was
listening in so I grabbed her and was going to bring her in."
Darrin breathed heavily for a few moments before stalking over to pick
up his sword. But he couldn't because Antoine was stepping on the blade.
"You will get this back if you go on the mission, not before," Antoine said.
"If I go?" Darrin asked.
"From how you are acting, I am not so sure you should go."
"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," Charleen said, causing everyone to
look at her. "I just saw how troubled Darrin looked when he left earlier and
wanted to see if I could help."
Darrin wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug, holding her close. "I
am sorry, Donovan," Darrin said, turning his head to face him. "I acted
rashly and without thought. Please accept my apology."
"OK, I guess no harm, no foul," Donovan said. "Now what do we do about
our little eavesdropper here?"
"I will take full responsibility for her actions."
"No Darrin, I did this on my own so I'll take whatever punishment
comes," Charleen insisted.
Antoine bent down and picked up his son's sword. "I will give you only
one warning Charleen," he said slowly. "When we are in this room, we are
discussing things that must remain private to keep the safety of all the
animals of this kingdom safe. Nothing you heard can be discussed with anyone,
even your aunt. Do you agree to this?"
Charleen nodded quietly, as if only now realizing the importance of the
situation. Antoine nodded in turn. "Now please escort her to the front gates
and make sure she gets home safely. I'll tell you when you return what I have
decided."
After they had left, Donovan turned to Antoine as they walked back
inside. "Well, back to work. You are letting him go, aren't you?"
"Of course, Donny. But he doesn't have to know that yet."
Along a road far away from Mobotropolis, a family of four were making
their way to the city of Urbantropolis with a very special errand in mind.
But that couldn't mean they weren't allowed some fun in the meantime. "Look
at me!" M3 yelled, streaking through the air as fast as his tails could
propel him.
Sarah tried to keep up with her brother, but soon dropped back quite a
bit. "Not bad big bro," she called, "but can you do this?" As M3 circled
around to look at her, she pulled herself up and around in a loop-de-loop.
"Show off," M3 muttered. In their last few lessons, the siblings had
found that while he was definitely the faster of the two, she was a far more
graceful flier. Then again, her body was more limber than his and could twist
in more than one direction at once, or so it seemed. Probably had to do with
the fact that she was just turning ten while he'd be eleven in a month or so.
"Don't fly too far you two!" Tails called, flying up high to try and
watch over the both of them.
"Hey, Miles!" Sondra yelled from where she ran underneath him. "Come
on down here a minute!"
"All right you two, bring it down!" Tails said as he flew in a spiral
down to his wife. "What's up?"
"You think we'll really find anything there?" Sondra asked as she
lowered her speed a notch. "I mean, isn't it possible Bunnie's just being an
overprotective mother here?"
"Sondra dear, if you found our son in bed with a girl who had nothing on
but a pair of panties, wouldn't you want to know everything about her that you
could?"
Sondra's eyes flashed crystalline for a long moment before she calmed
herself. "Point taken. And speaking of which, where is our son?"
"Right behind...." Tails whipped his tails angrily behind him as he saw
that their children were nowhere in sight. "Those two...."
"Don't worry about it," Sondra said with a smirk. "They're just playing
hide-and-seek."
"But with everything--"
Tails shut up as Sondra kissed him. "They're kids, they need to have
some fun. Remember how we were?"
Tails sighed and nodded. "All right, but let's not take too long to
find them. I want to make it there before it's too late."
Meanwhile, Sarah and M3 were flying off, looking for the best hiding
spots. Sarah veered off and hid in a thick clump of branches; you could only
see her crystal blue eyes if you knew where to look. As he flew around a
tree to find his own, he crashed headfirst into something pink and brown.
"Ow!" he cried, holding his head as tears poured down his cheeks.
"Owie!" a high-pitched voice said at almost the same time.
M3, his pain forgotten, crept over to where the voice was coming from.
A bright pink hedgehog who looked to be about the same age as him was holding
her head and whimpering softly. "You OK?" he asked.
The hedgehog sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess," she said, standing
up shakily. The brown he'd noticed on first colliding with her was actually a
hooded cloak the color of mud that had been nearly thrown off by the force of
the collision. Her other clothing consisted of a tank top and shorts of a
lighter brown, but just as drab looking.
"Sorry about that," he said, helping to steady her. "Guess I wasn't
watching where I was going."
"It's all right," the hedgehog said, blinking her purple eys a couple
times to clear her vision. "I wasn't either. I was just looking for someone
to play with."
"Well, why don't you play with us?" M3 asked brightly. "Me and my sis
were just about to play hide-and-seek."
"Hey bro," Sarah called as she flew down next to her brother. "Who's
your new friend?"
"She's.... Hmm, what's your name?"
"I'm Amy Rose," the pink hedgehog said, waving shyly.
"I'm Sarah," the younger hedgehog said, waving back. "My brother's name
is Miles."
"Sarah!" M3 whined. "You know I like to be called M3."
"I think Miles is a cute name," Amy Rose said, looking down at the
ground.
M3 was speechless for a moment, causing his sister to burst out in
laughter. "Anyway," M3 said, ignoring the burning in his cheeks, "will you
play with us?"
"I don't know," Amy Rose demurred. "My guardians will be looking for me
soon so I don't know how long I have."
"Then you can play with us until they find you," Sarah said simply.
"Come on, my brother will try to find us first, OK?"
"OK!" Amy Rose agreed eagerly, rushing off with Sarah to hide as M3
began his count, her cloak left behind in her haste. After reaching the count
of ten, M3 ran off and the forest was soon filled with the sound of children
playing and having fun.
Unseen and unnoticed, a shadowy figure glided to the ground from a
nearby tree, landing daintily on her feet. "It would be so easy to snatch her
up right now," the figure said to herself, folding her wings behind her. "But
like I told my 'employer,' I won't hurt any kids, no matter what jewels he
tempts me with. And those two definitely seem the type to put up a fight,
what little they can." That said, she spread her wings and half-flew, half-
glided back into the surrounding foliage, her piercing aqua eyes watching her
quarry relentlessly.
In the castle of the Unholy One, Krella was being marched toward the
throne room by an equally relentless Tanin. "I gave you two hours," he
reminded her, steering her toward their destination with his hand on her arm.
"If you haven't figured it out by now you're not going to."
"All I need is a little more time Tanin, honest!" Krella protested,
dragging her heels. "I've almost got it, come on!"
"Father needs to know Krella. No more discussion on this point."
Krella grumbled under her breath but brought herself under control as
Tanin brought her before their Father. "I hope you have good news to report,"
he said, his scratchy voice emanating from underneath his low-drawn hood.
"I've found both artifacts we can use for the Wind Emerald," Krella
said, her gaze fixed on her feet.
"That is good news indeed. Yet there is a problem, else Tanin would not
have had to bring you forcibly before me."
"T-though I know where they are," Krella continued, her voice faltering
momentarily, "we do not have the abilities to retrieve either one. I cannot
find a way to get us to either location, much less past the defenses that
exist."
The Unholy One was silent for a few long moments. But before he could
speak the doors creaked open. "I'm back," Charisma called, her voice echoing
in the silence as she adjusted her black cloak, "and do I have some news for
you."
"Such insolence!" Krella spat. "This is an important meeting, so why
don't you run off and do your nails or something?"
"Then I guess you don't want to know that the Chosen Ones are going
after a Wind artifact?"
"What?" Krella and the Unholy One demanded together, though Krella
clapped her hands over her mouth, shocked that she had dared talk over her
father.
"Oh yeah," Charisma said offhandedly, her eyes glittering mischievously
at Krella. "I was able to use my skills to find out that one of them is in a
place called Maga, which their parents went to when they were younger.
They're going to fix up the old plane and use it to get there, something about
doing things the way their parents did."
"Finally, a break that goes our way for a change," the Unholy One nearly
cackled, rubbing his hands together. "Charisma, you will plant this disk on
their plane. It will allow Tanin to teleport the rest of you to them."
"As you wish, Father," Charisma said, bowing after taking the disk of
dark energy and placing it in her pocket.
"Krella, I expect your plan to be flawless. We have one chance at this,
do not disappoint me."
"Of course, Father," Krella said, bowing as well.
"Now go and prepare. Oh, and Charisma...." A wave of black energy shot
from the Unholy One's hands, throwing her into a wall with a sharp cry of fear
and pain. "Never show me such disrespect again."
"Forgive me Father," Charisma begged, fighting to keep the pain she felt
out of her voice. A slight nod from his hood was all she needed and she
scrambled out of the door.
Back at Mobotropolis, Rotor and his daughter Rosa were looking over the
plane he had built while he was still a walrus back in Knothole. "It's in
pretty good shape," he rumbled, rubbing his scaly chin. "I could fix it up
without too much trouble, but I'm afraid I don't have the time right now."
"Don't have time to help us stop Chaos?" Alicia demanded, though she
took a step back as the two red dragon guards glowered menacingly at her.
"What did I tell you both about that?" Rotor asked calmly, but both
guards blanched at the fire in his eyes. "I know what you have to do is very
important Princess, but you should know the duties I'm under. As king of
dragons, I have to put my people first. There's a land dispute between the
red and gold dragons and I have to put it to rest before it gets out of hand.
Besides, this can wait a day, can't it?"
"I can fix it Dad," Rosa said, pulling her tool belt from her pouch and
strapping it across her body. "I even see room for improvement here."
"Rosa, you know this was supposed to be a lesson in diplomacy for you.
You can't just shirk your duties like this."
"Dad," Rosa whined, a puff of smoke coming from her nostrils. "The reds
and the golds have been at each other's throats since before Robotnik took
over. I guarantee something will come up again next week."
Rotor grumbled something in a voice too deep for anyone to understand,
but knew it was true. All his hard efforts to bring peace had only managed to
keep things from getting worse. "All right, you win. This time," he
stressed. "But try not to go too overboard, OK?"
"I'll try," Rosa promised, pulling a red cap out of her pouch and
jamming it on her head backward. "Now then, let's get to work!"
Rotor couldn't help but chuckle as he left with one of his guards, the
other remaining behind to watch over their princess. It still amazed him
sometimes that Rosa was so like him. He was still sometimes amazed he had a
daughter at all! But she was definitely his, and he was proud to have her.
Along the trail to Urbantropolis, the forest rang with the sound of
three children having fun. "You're it Amy!" M3 called, running off to find a
hiding place.
Amy Rose laughed as she hid her eyes and counted to ten. The past half-
hour had been perhaps the most fun of her young life. No worries about where
to go next, or who might be following her. All she cared about was playing
and laughing with her new friends. "Ready or not, here I come!" she said as
her count reached ten.
Amy Rose peered around, looking for any sign of where they might be
hiding. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a fluttering of brown that was
a different shade from the tree it was behind. Slowly she crept toward it,
watching her feet so that she didn't step on any twigs or rustle through some
leaves. She edged around the tree toward her quarry and jumped as soon as she
saw her. "Gotcha Sar--" she exclaimed, but cut off and stared into space as
soon as her hand touched Sarah's arm.
"Amy?" Sarah asked, frightened by the sudden change in the pink
hedgehog.
"The curse of the mother shall be visited on the daughter," Amy Rose
intoned in a mysterious voice that was so unlike her own. Without making
another sound, she slid to the ground, unconscious.
"Amy?" Sarah asked again, a note of fright creeping into her voice.
"Miles!"
"What's wrong?" M3 asked, flying down from his treetop hiding spot.
"Amy! What happened to her?"
"I don't know," Sarah insisted as her brother kneeled next to Amy Rose
and cradled her head in his lap. "She just freaked out on me!"
"Amy, come on Amy, wake up," M3 whispered, tapping the unconscious
hedgehog's cheek lightly.
Without any warning, M3 and Sarah were lifted into the air by the backs
of their necks. "What has happened here?" a gravelly voice demanded.
"Lemme go!" M3 whined as Sarah screamed in fright. "Help!"
"What has happened to the child?" the voice demanded again, lifting the
siblings a little higher.
"Let them go!" Sondra yelled, running in with a sonic boom. "Let them
go!"
The animal holding her children turned and regarded her coolly. His
form was almost completely covered by a flowing black cloak that was able to
hide even what kind of animal he was. The hands which held her children were
black-furred, and she occasionally caught glimpses of black clothing
underneath the cloak, but nothing that could give her any idea of who or what
she faced. "When they tell me what happened to the child, I will let them
go," the figure said, his voice firm and unwavering.
"You will let them go now!" Sondra said, forming a crystal spear in her
hands as Tails flew in behind her. "If you don't, I'll make you let them go."
The cloaked figure didn't move, and Sondra could feel his stare upon
her. She stared back defiantly, refusing to lose this test of wills when so
much was at stake
"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" another, softer voice asked, making
both Sondra and the cloaked figure falter. "Nicky, what are you doing?"
"I told you not to call me that Lily," the figure grumbled, turning to
look at the newcomer. She was a rather pretty squirrel with a long, metallic
grey trenchcoat on that hid her body as the sunglasses she wore hid her eyes.
Her black hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail that ended just above the
tip of her tail. "The child is unconscious, and these two know why. I just
asked them what happened."
Lily looked at the whimpering children and sighed. "No wonder they're
scared," she muttered. "Drop them."
"Lily, I--"
"Drop them!" she insisted, fixing Nicholas with her own stare. "Why
don't you go try to find us some flying red rocks or something?"
Nicholas grumbled again but dropped the kids on their backsides. The
small yelp of pain from both of them almost caused Sondra to launch her
spear at him, but Tails was able to hold her back. "Will someone tell me
what is going on here?" Sondra asked, her voice fraying along with her
nerves.
"I'm sorry for Nicky over there," Lily apologized, smiling at Sondra.
"I'm Lily, and we're Amy Rose's guardians."
"Who's Amy Rose?" Tails asked before Sondra could. There was something
very familiar about Lily that tickled the back of his mind, and he saw the
same recognition on Sondra's face. But it was so well buried that he just
couldn't call it up
Lily gestured to the unconscious pink hedgehog that M3 was hovering over
protectively. She walked over and kneeled next to M3 who flinched away at her
approach. "I'm not gonna hurt you," she said in a soothing voice. "I just
want to know what happened to Amy Rose, that's all. Did she hurt herself or
anything?"
"I-I don't know," M3 whimpered. "I wasn't here, Sarah was."
"We didn't do anything to her," Sarah said from where she was hiding
behind her mother.
"I'm not saying you did," Lily said calmly. "I just want to know what
happened."
"We were playing tag, and she tagged me, and then she freaked out on
me."
"Did she say anything?" Lily asked slowly.
"Y-Yeah. Umm, 'the curse of the mother will be visited on the daughter'
or something like that."
"That is weird," Lily said, nodding quietly to herself. "I can see why
it scared you. I'm sure it didn't mean anything though."
Sondra was about to speak her doubts on that, but Amy Rose chose that
exact moment to come to. "Unnh.... Lily? Nicholas?"
"We're here Amy," Lily said softly as Nicholas came walking up. "How
are you feeling?"
"Like I always do," Amy Rose said weakly. She got to her feet with some
help from M3 and Lily.
"We have to go," Nicholas said, reaching down to pick Amy up in his arms.
"And no more wandering off from us."
"But, I was playing with my friends," Amy protested.
"We have to go," Nicholas said simply.
"Come on Amy, you know we have to keep moving," Lily said, pushing some
quills out of Amy's face. "Thank you both for watching her for us," she said,
smiling at M3 and Sarah.
"Bye," Amy said, waving as she was carried off by Nicholas.
"Bye," M3 said, waving to her. Then he ran up to her and kissed her on
her cheek shyly.
Amy blushed slightly and smiled shyly at him. Nicholas grumbled
something, but a warning glance from Lily stifled it. Together, the three
walked into the forest and were soon out of sight.
"Will we ever see her again?" Sarah asked, looking up at her mother
with wide eyes.
"I'm sure we will," Sondra said, hugging her daughter as Tails went to
pick up their son. "I'm sure we will."
From a hidden vantage point, Lily and Nicholas watched as the Prower
family moved on toward Urbantropolis. "We need to keep an eye on them," Lily
said, her voice deeper and more serious. "This came about for a reason."
"Indeed," Nicholas agreed. "What it means, I do not know. But we will
be ready when the time comes. If it something we can do anything about."
Later that night, after the repairs and upgrades on Rotor's plane, the
Freedom Stormer, had been completed, Rosa wearily curled up in a spare room,
leaving the guards with strict orders for her "baby" not to be disturbed until
morning. And yet, the lights in the hangar lit up only a couple hours later.
"We will be in trouble if we get caught," Darrin whispered, leading Charleen
inside by her hand
"I don't want you to get in any trouble," Charleen whispered back,
tightening her grip on Darrin's hand slightly. "It's just that I've never
seen a plane before, much less been in one."
"Well, here she is, the Freedom Stormer," Darrin said with a smile,
pulling the tarp off the plane. "Our parents named it, so we didn't feel
right renaming it."
"I've never seen anything so beautiful," Charleen said, her eyes wide in
awe. "Oh, I wish I could go with you tomorrow."
"No you don't," Darrin said, taking her hands in his. "Tomorrow will be
very dangerous, and I want you as far away from that danger as possible."
Charleen blushed under Darrin's intense gaze, the look in his eyes
stirring feelings in her she'd never felt before. She averted her gaze not
out of modesty, but out of uneasiness. "I wish you didn't have to go," she
whispered.
"It is my destiny, and my duty. I will do what I must to keep this
world and all I love safe."
Charleen looked back at him then and impulsively leaned forward,
pressing her lips against his clumsily in their first kiss. Darrin was
surprised for a moment but soon returned her kiss, wrapping his arms around
her and holding her close. They stayed that way for a moment before parting
reluctantly. "I'm sorry," she said, blushing again. "I just...."
"It's all right," he said, pressing a finger against her lips. "I
wanted it too." He pulled her into a warm hug and held her for a long moment.
He let her go as she gave a small whimper of pain. "Charleen?"
"I...fell out of bed this afternoon when my aunt startled me," she
admitted with a blush. "Just a bruise, honest. I'll be fine."
Darrin looked at her, his instincts telling him she wasn't being
completely truthful. "Come on," he said finally, "we have enough time for you
to take a quick peek inside before anyone gets suspicious."
Charleen nodded and stood to the side so Darrin could open the hatch.
Once it was open she darted inside and sat down in the backseat. "I'll bet
there are so many memories in this plane alone...."
"And there will be a few more after tomorrow," Darrin promised, sitting
down next to her. "Come on, we'd better go."
Charleen nodded and stood up, letting Darrin lead her back outside. As
the lights darkened, quiet returned to the hangar and all was still once more.
Morning dawned bright and cheerful upon the Chosen Ones as they gathered
in front of the newly restored Freedom Stormer. "OK, I've explained all the
upgrades," Rosa said, pacing back and forth in front of them. "I think I can
trust you with it now. But you'd better bring it back to me just as I'm
giving it to you, understand?"
"Yeah yeah Rosa," Juice said, waving Rosa's fears away with his hand.
"Trust me, you won't even know it's been flown."
"That's why she's getting the goggles," Rosa said pointedly, reaching
into her pouch and handing the goggles to Alicia. "You'd never make it there
if you flew it."
The look on Juice's face soured and he would've had some retort had
Angela not stifled him. "Let's get going then," he said instead.
"You have everything?" Sally asked, walking out from inside the plane.
"Yes, Mother," Alicia said with a nod of her head. "I've seen to it
myself."
"Good." Sally walked to her children and pulled them both into a tight
hug. "Make us proud."
"Umm, Mom.... Can't breathe," Juice gasped out.
Sally rapped her knuckles lightly against her son's head and stepped
back. "Now get out of here before I wake everyone up and we decide to go with
you."
"Hang on a second," Sonic said, running outside in just a pair of
shorts. "You're going to need this."
Juice caught the bundle Sonic threw at him. "What's this?"
"Grapple spike for your sneakers. As fast as we run, you won't make it
through the whole tunnel in time. There are a couple alcoves in the tunnel
you can wedge into, but without those spikes you'll be blown all the way back
to the beginning."
"Good thinking," Sally said, slipping her hand into Sonic's. "I can't
believe I forgot about that."
"You're not the one who experienced it. I did, so I remember it." He
kissed Sally softly on the lips and then turned to the kids. "Go on, get
this thing and come back safe."
The Chosen Ones piled into the plane and Alicia took her place in the
pilot's seat. She ran through the pre-flight checklist Rosa had given her as
the others strapped themselves in. "Oh!" Angela exclaimed, hugging herself
suddenly.
"Everything OK?" Juice asked, worried.
"Yeah, I think so," Angela said slowly. "Just a chill I guess."
"Here we go!" Alicia called, pumping her fist in the air and starting
the engines. With Rosa's upgrades, the Freedom Stormer no longer needed a
downslope to get enough speed to take off, and soon they were roaring down the
impromptu runway that had been built, lifting off with ease into the calm blue
sky.
Alicia set course with Nicole's help, using the computer to auto-pilot
the plane. "This is it everyone, our big chance," she said, turning the seat
around to face everyone.
"We know Sis, we know," Juice said, rolling his eyes. "Trust me, with
the training we've been put through, those defenses don't have a chance. And
if those Fallen Ones decide to pop up, we'll deal with them just like before."
"If I remember right sugarhog," Desirée said with a heavy Southern
accent, "the last time we fought them we almost ended up burned up in a river
of lava." Juice looked at her oddly and Desirée could swear she saw a flicker
of jealousy in Angela's stormy eyes. "Oh relax Angela-girl," she said with a
smile. "I figure if we are going about this like our parents did, I should
try to sound the part. My brother's got Dad's reactions down pat."
"Who said I'm acting?" Darrin asked, grabbing his seat so hard that his
knuckles were turning white.
"Since when are you afraid of flying?" Alicia asked with a slight
smirk. "You don't act like this when you're flying with me or Rosa."
"Let's just say I trust you two more than this thing," he squeezed out
through clenched teeth.
"Don't let Rosa hear you say that," Angela said, relaxing against Juice.
A laugh was shared by all of them and they settled down to wait.
They didn't have to wait long as Nicole started beeping. "Maga coming
into view now Alicia," she reported.
"Thank you Nicole, begin landing sequence," Alicia said, turning her
seat back toward the controls. Once again thanks to the upgrades Rosa had
made, the Freedom Stormer was able to land safely whereas before it would
have rolled right off the edge. "There, that wasn't so bad."
"Speak for yourself Princess," Darrin said, hurrying off the plane and
regurgitating his breakfast over the side.
Alicia disconnected Nicole and went out to join the others. "OK, the
first thing we need to do is find the Arrow Stone," she said once Darrin was
able to listen.
"Umm, Sis, isn't that it?" Juice asked, pointing at a stone that looked
like an arrow.
"Oh, yeah," Alicia agreed, blushing. She opened Nicole up and pointed
her at the inscription. "Nicole, trans--"
"We do not see things as they are," Nicole said, interrupting Alicia.
"We see things as we are."
"Say what?" Juice asked. "Dad was right, this does boggle the hedgehog
mind."
"Not hard to do with you," Alicia smirked. "Now, if I remember
correctly, the first thing we need to do is get by that hedge over there.
Think you can handle it Juice?"
"No prob, everyone stand back." As he was about to go into a Sonic Spin
Attack, a loud moaning stopped him. "What was that?"
"That must be the Breath of Mobius," Angela said. "At least we know
we're on the right path."
"As Dad used to say, spin to win time!" Juice curled up and attacked
the hedge, spinning through it with ease. Knowing full well it would regrow
after a moment, the others hurried through right behind him.
"Oh come on!" Angela said as her robe got caught on the hedge for the
third time. With help from Desirée she was able to pull it free before the
hedge closed up and trapped them. "Sometimes it just doesn't pay to wear
these robes," she muttered.
"Maybe you should wear your workout outfit when we do this," Desirée
suggested.
"I would, but you know how important these robes are to me. I just
wouldn't feel right in anything else."
"OK, from here we need to look for the Chair, the first marker and the
only one we're really concerned with," Alicia said, looking up from the file
she was studying on Nicole. "I think Mother said there was another
inscription we had to find."
"Well, let's keep walking," Desirée said. "Nothing in here was too
hard to find according to those stories." And as Desirée had predicted,
it did not take them long to find the next inscription. "See, what did I
tell ya?"
"Nicole, could you translate this for us?" Alicia asked.
"Translation still stored in memory Alicia," Nicole responded. "What
one cannot achieve through learning, one will achieve through the light of
day."
"The light will reveal the Chair," Alicia said, looking around at the
debris before them. "That's what Dad said would happen."
"Yeah, one of the few times Dad managed to outthink Mom," Juice agreed.
"He still doesn't let her forget it."
Angela smiled as the others recounted what their parents went through
on this journey, but her smile was tinged with sadness. Her parents had never
been a part of these adventures, because they had been too old or bound by the
covenant. It always made her feel like a bit of an outsider, but no one ever
knew she felt that way.
While the others were reminiscing, Angela noticed that the Breath of
Mobius was about to sound again. "We need to take cover or we'll be blown
away!" she called just as a loud moaning was heard.
"Grab on!" Juice said, grabbing Angela's hand. Angela grabbed hold of
Alicia, who grabbed hold of Desirée, who grabbed hold of Darrin. Revving up
his legs, he ran against the wind just as it began to hit full blast. It was
hard with four animals hanging onto him, but he managed to get them behind one
of the pillars. "Looks like Dad's training actually paid off!" he yelled to
be heard above the wind.
"So it seems," Alicia yelled back, staying hidden until the wind died.
"Still blows every two point one minutes I see," she remarked.
"Well, let's find the chair before it blows again," Darrin said,
stepping out from the the pillar's protection. He panicked when he saw no one
behind him, until everyone else stepped out as well. "I forgot that part of
the story," he admitted.
"No one remembers everything," Desirée said. "But I see a lit up chair
that's just begging to be sat on." When the others looked, they saw that the
sun had indeed moved into the proper position to illuminate the Chair. "Now
all we need to do is sit down and...and...and what Alicia-girl?"
Alicia hopped up on the chair, doing a one-arm handstand into a seated
position that her mother had used. "I guess we just wait."
The others clambered up next to her and waited. Juice, of course,
wasn't exactly waiting patiently. "Let's get a move on here," he said,
tapping his foot against the Chair. Nothing happened for a moment. But just
as everyone was wondering if they did anything wrong, the Chair took off like
a shot. Everyone yelled in surprise as the Chair flew over the wall hiding
the temple from view and landed hard on the other side.
"I think I just found a style of flying I hate more than that plane,"
Darrin said, looking distinctly green.
"Come on, we're almost there," Alicia said, hopping down on slightly
unsteady feet. "It's just on the other side of the temple."
Together they hurried into the temple and through it, past the original
resting point of the Secret Scrolls. They found the secret passage that
Antoine had intentionally(accidentally) discovered and quickly made their way
to the opening of the wind tunnel known as the Breath of Mobius. "OK, it'll
blow again in 30 seconds," Alicia said, checking her watch. "Everyone take
cover and get yourself ready Juice."
"You got it," Juice said, strapping on the spikes Sonic had given him
and taking cover behind some rocks. Right on time, the immensely powerful
wind erupted from the opening at one hundred seventy-five miles per hour,
nearly knocking everyone down despite the fact that they were protected from
it. As soon as the wind died Juice ran into the hole, pushing himself to
his top speed as he mentally counted the seconds.
When his count reached one hundred twenty, he dived into the nearest
alcove and dug in with the spikes on his sneakers. Six seconds later the wind
erupted once more, nearly ripping him from his alcove despite the spikes. He
held on just long enough to outlast the wind and broke out into a full-speed
sprint, starting his count over.
This time he only reached thirty before he found a glittering golden
amulet hanging over a seemingly bottomless hole by a thick chain. "This has
to be it," he thought, ripping the amulet from the chain and running back down
the tunnel. When his count reached one hundred twenty again he dived for the
nearest alcove and protected himself from the onslaught of wind.
But to his surprise, Juice wasn't affected by the blast of wind this
time. He noticed the amulet glowing ever so slightly. "This must be
protecting me," he realized, taking advantage of that to run through the wind
toward his exit. Emerging seventy seconds after the wind ended, he held up
the amulet victoriously. "I got it!" he called.
"No, I do," a bored voice said as a shadow slunk toward him. Juice
barely had time to react as Destín, who came seemingly from nowhere, plucked
the amulet from his fingers and wriggled down into the wind tunnel.
"Get back--!" Juice's cry was cut off as his gaze met the milky white
gaze of Maxwell Kavenoff and was held motionless in fear.
"No!" Angela cried, running forward to try and break the gaze. But
the damage was already done as Juice curled up into a shivering ball, plagued
by whatever fears the Kavenoff had inflicted on him. "Desirée, the charm!"
"Gotcha!" Desirée yelled, dropping on the huge rat from above. Before
she could loop the charm around his neck it was blasted into pieces by a bolt
of dark energy.
"Do you really think we'd give you the chance to seal his powers?"
Tanin asked calmly. His calm turned to anguished pain as a dagger buried
itself into his shoulder up to the hilt.
"Blessed by our father," Angela said, charging up a spell between her
hands. Just as she was about to throw it, she and everyone there were knocked
off their feet by a huge blast of wind. "Juice!" she cried, seeing her
beloved plummeting off the cliff, completely consumed by his fear.
"Angela, get on!" Alicia yelled, running past her and throwing herself
into the air. Angela jumped onto her back and held onto her jogging suit as
Alicia banked into a steep dive, trying to close in on her brother.
Darrin tried to shake loose the cobwebs as he saw Krella running toward
Tanin. "No you don't," he said, drawing his sword with every intent to stop
her from pulling the holy dagger free. But intentions were as far as he got
as he got grabbed around his neck from behind and lifted into the air.
"Hugo crush," the bulldog said happily, applying pressure around the
young fox's throat. Instinctively, Darrin lashed out with a back elbow,
catching Hugo in the face with his metal arm. Hugo cried out in pain and
surprise, dropping Darrin to the ground as he was forced to back up a step.
Desirée darted forward and dragged her brother to safety, standing
over him to defend against the oncoming duo of Hugo and Maxwell. "Ancestors,
please help me," she pleaded, knowing that the situation was hopeless.
Hundreds of feet below Maga, a battle of a different kind was taking
place. "Just a little further Alicia," Angela called, reaching forward as far
as she could, her fingertips just barely brushing Juice's quills. A strong
surge by Alicia enabled her to grasp Juice's arm. "I have him! Pull up!"
"Hold on!" Alicia said, putting all of her strength into pulling out
of her dive. If it had not been for the training her mother had put her
through, all three would plummet helplessly to their deaths. But with her
increased strength, Alicia was able to halt their descents and rocket back
toward Maga.
When they got there, the sight was disheartening. Darrin and Desirée
were both down, despite having put up a tremendous fight. Any minute and they
would be finished off by the possessed rat and too-strong bulldog. "We're not
going to make it!" Alicia cried, despair seeping into her heart and soul as
she called on every reserve she had to speed up.
Angela watched as the two Fallen Ones closed in on her friends and felt
something snap inside her. "Hold him," she ordered, handing Juice to his
sister as she stood on her back.
"Angela, sit down!" Alicia called, her flying becoming very erratic as
she tried to compensate for the shift in weight.
Angela paid her no heed, a holy light burning in her eyes as she stepped
off, being held in mid-air by her own magic. She extended her hands in front
of her, palms out, thumbs and forefingers forming a triangle. In a clear,
powerful voice, she chanted words that appeared unbidden in her mind.
"Brightness beyond the brightest sun, shining through the darkest night!"
Alicia flew slowly backward as waves of what looked like white lightning
streaked from all around them to converge on the space in front of Angela's
hands. "What is she doing?" she wondered, but noticed that the Fallen Ones
were also gazing up at the Shi-rat.
"Lord of Heaven, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Clouds...."
Angela continued as the power coalesced into a brightly burning sphere of
energy. "I CALL UPON THEE AND SWEAR MYSELF TO THEE!"
"No, it can't be!" Tanin cried through gritted teeth. "Krella, you
have to get the dagger out of me now!"
"I'm trying!" Krella said through her tears, wrung from her as the
dagger seared her hands.
"We're done for if you don't! It's the Holy Vengeance!"
Krella had no idea what Tanin was talking about, but from the fear she
saw in his eyes she knew she had to do it. She braced her feet against his
shoulder and pulled, using all the strength in her body as she felt the dagger
begin to give way.
The sphere in front of Angela had grown to be larger than she was, and
was still growing. "Let the evil that stands against me be purged by the
powers you and I possess!" she cried, streaks of white showing in her black
hair as the spell began to take its toll on her.
Krella gave one last tug and fell backward, the dagger clenched in her
trembling hands. "Get us out of here!" she cried, not noticing the black
wind that was already surging around her.
Angela poured her remaining strength into the spell as the final words
were ripped from her throat. "HOLY VENGEANCE!" The sphere of energy exploded
into a bright beam of pure holy power that enveloped the ruins of Maga,
completely engulfing it in light.
Alicia had to shield her eyes with one hand as she held onto her brother
with the other. When the light finally faded, everything was gone. The
entire ruins of Maga had been destroyed by Angela's spell, and even some of
the mountains behind it. "No," she whispered, thinking the worst for her
friends.
Angela hung motionless in the air for a long moment, her now pure white
hair streaming out behind her as the wind that was once the Breath of Mobius
hurtled away freely. Then, her eyes closed and she fell silently from the
sky.
Alicia reached out and grabbed her, then floated slowly to the remains
of Maga where she set Angela and Juice down gently. "They're gone," she
whispered, looking to where she had last seen Darrin and Desirée.
"Alicia-girl!"
Alicia's head snapped around to a pile of nearly completely crumbled
rocks. She ran to it and began throwing rocks every which way, hoping
against all hope. And her hope was rewarded as she uncovered the dusty
battered forms of the D'Coolette twins. "Thank the Almighty you heard us,"
Darrin said, coughing. "We were almost goners."
"Thank the Almighty you aren't," she said, hugging them both gently.
"We need to get back, you all need medical attention."
"How?" Desirée asked, looking at the bubbling pool of metal that had
once been the Freedom Stormer. "You can't fly us all down."
"No, but I know who can." Alicia stood up and pulled a silver whistle
from her pocket. Blowing on it three times, she waited for her answer to
arrive.
Far away, at the castle of the Unholy One, the Fallen Ones were all
before their Father. Four of them looked as fine as they could, especially
Charisma who hadn't even gone to battle that day. Krella, however, was
nursing her burnt hands and Tanin was unconscious from the strain of casting
the teleportation under duress. "Have you succeeded?" the Unholy One asked in
a cold voice.
"Here is the amulet, Father," Destín said, walking forward and placing
it by his feet.
"Excellent! You have succeeded beyond my expectations. But what has
happened to you Krella? And why is Tanin unconscious?"
"He was struck by a holy dagger," Krella explained through the burning
pain in her hands. "He said the Shi-rat was about to destroy us so he had to
teleport us out of there as soon as I removed it.."
The Unholy One waved his hand, healing the burns on Krella's hands and
the dagger wound in Tanin's shoulder. "Surely he must have been mistaken.
How could one girl, even a Shi-rat, destroy five of you at once?"
"I don't know," Krella admitted. "But he said the spell she was casting
was the Holy Vengeance."
Fear. As soon as Krella spoke the name, uncontrollable fear ran through
the body of the Unholy One. The fear was so strong that everyone there felt
it as surely as if it were their own. "It cannot be," he stammered. "It
simply cannot be!"
"Father?" Krella ventured, made afraid by the simple fact that her
father was so afraid.
"Go, leave me!" he commanded, rising to his feet and turning away from
them. "Krella, when Tanin awakes, I want you to go through every magical text
we have with his help. Find a way to stop that spell!"
"Of course Father," she said, backing out of the room while half-
carrying, half-dragging Tanin. The others hurried out as well lest they have
to face their father's wrath.
The Unholy One allowed himself to tremble as his Fallen Ones left him.
"The Holy Vengeance," he whispered. "Can they really have unlocked such
power?"
As he pondered that, Alicia finally received her answer in the form of
the Royal Family of dragons and their two guards. "What happened here?"
Rotor demanded as he touched down.
"What happened to them?" Dulcy asked, looking over the unconscious and
hurt forms in front of her.
"What happened to my plane!" Rosa wailed, sinking to her knees in front
of the pool of molten metal. "My plane! What did it ever do to you? What
did it do to deserve such a fate? It was too young to die!" she cried,
dissolving into tears.
"Like father like daughter," Dulcy muttered, a smile playing on her
lips.
"Yes, well," Rotor said, coughing to hide his blush, "we'd better get
everyone back to the palace. You can explain what happened once we're there."
Alicia nodded and helped as the dragons carefully cradled her friends.
She refused Rosa's offer to carry her, choosing instead to fly alongside them,
the flight allowing her to try and organize her jumbled thoughts.
As they all flew back to the palace, a lone figure stole away from it.
"It's a good thing this mini monitor absorbed the shockwave from the
surveillance cameras at Maga," he thought, looking at the burnt out shell of
a monitor in his hands. "If it hadn't, the whole system would have been
fried. It appears that the Chosen Ones have a powerful new weapon.
"However," his thoughts continued, "the enemy still has a distinct
advantage. At this rate, I may have to start putting my plan into effect.
Sometimes, the only way to recognize change is needed is through a death."
With that, the figure disappeared into the nearby forest.
Once back at the castle, Alicia made sure her friends were resting
comfortably, glad in the fact that Angela's hair had begun to resume its
true black color but worried about the vacant gaze that Juice still had
from his encounter with the Kavenoff. "Well, I guess it's up to me to tell
them what happened," she said, squaring her shoulders and marching into the
throne room.
The sight before her made her gasp in surprise. Not only were the
Freedom Fighters in attendance, but so were a number of Holy Ones, the Shi-rat
and Echidnas included. Shakily she recounted her tale, leaving nothing out.
"And that's all of it," she said with a sigh. "We were beaten soundly and if
it wasn't for that spell Angela cast, we would all have been dead. Though I
don't really know how it could destroy Maga but leave Desirée and Darrin
untouched."
"A good learning experience, huh?" Bunnie asked, smacking Sally in the
back of her head. "Good way to test their training, huh? You almost got
them killed!"
"This spell you speak of," Knuckles began slowly, interrupting Bunnie's
tirade, "do you remember any of the chant she used?"
"Only the last two words," Alicia admitted. "Right before the spell
fired, she screamed the words, 'Holy Vengeance.'"
A great murmur of disbelief arose from the Holy Ones gathered there.
"Holy Vengeance?" Tanis demanded, his eyes wide from shock.
"Knuckles," Julie-Su began, turning to her husband, "isn't that the
spell that...."
"Yes Mother," James said. "It's the spell our ancestor used to banish
Chaos into the seven Emeralds. But in the hands of a Shi-rat...." His voice
trailed off as there was no real need to finish the thought.
"I thought the sword banished him into the Emeralds," Rosie protested.
"It was the power of the spell channeled through the sword that did the
deed," Knuckles explained. "My ancestor was not powerful enough to cast it
on his own, so needed the magic of the sword to focus it. And it still cost
him his life."
"And to think, I've been trying to provoke her to attack me with her
best stuff," James said with a nervous gulp.
"Not that it could affect you," Tanis said quietly. "As Alicia noticed,
it cannot be used to harm any who are aligned with good, especially a Holy One
or one touched by the Almighty."
Sally looked at Sonic with a grave expression, rubbing the back of her
head from the slap Bunnie gave her. He returned the look and nodded slowly.
"It looks like all of your training has to increase now," she said finally,
looking right at her daughter. "We thought you'd be fine at the level we
were at, a mistake that almost cost you your lives. And it would've been my
fault."
"Aw now Sally-girl," Bunnie said, her voice softening at the despair on
Sally's face, "I didn't mean--"
"No Bunnie, you were right. I have to take responsibility for my
actions. I can't undo the mistake I made, but I can act to prevent it from
happening again. Once the others heal, we will begin your training again.
We'll find your own limits, and then we'll push you past them. I guarantee
that this won't happen again."
"You're right Mom, it won't," Alicia thought. "I have to take
responsibility for my actions too. It's just as much my fault as it is yours,
so I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." (
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