"The Curse of the Mother..."
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: So much for not letting things affect me, huh? You know, I
might have made my deadlines if I hadn't gotten sick, but I'm not here to
make excuses. This particular story contains some things we've been asked
about, so I hope you get some questions answered. Here's the thing though,
as usual, you might just end up with more questions. Would you expect
anything less from us? Till next time everyone, Happy Reading!
Cast of Characters(in order of appearance)
Princess Sondra Acorn-Prower***
Miles "Tails" Prower
Desirée D'Coolette***
DJ Osaya###
Princess Alicia Rose Hedgehog***
Nadia Osaya***
Bunnie D'Coolette
Tanin###
Krella###
Sarah Prower***
Miles "M3" Prower***
Angela Shi-rat***
Prince Juice Hedgehog***
Darrin D'Coolette***
Charisma###
Destín###
Hugo###
Maxwell Kavenoff###
Rosie Shi-rat
Tanis Shi-rat***
Amy Rose
Nicholas###
Lily###
Rouge
James Echidna***
Lissette Lexford***
Queen Sally Alicia Hedgehog
King Sonic Hedgehog
Antoine D'Coolette
#41
It was a quiet night on Mobius, an autumn chill hanging in the darkness
that brought portents of the winter to come. And it was in this night that
Sondra Acorn-Prower slumbered, her beloved husband by her side. At first
glance, it would seem to any observer that Sondra slept peacefully and
contentedly. But if one looked a little longer, they might find that their
first impression was not a correct one.
Tension began to show on Sondra's face, a look that was at odds with
her previously peaceful state. Her eyes moved back and forth under her
eyelids rapidly, looking at things that only she could see. She clutched at
the sheets that covered, twisting them beneath her fingers as a low, strangled
cry sounded from her lips. For just the barest of moments afterward, she
seemed to calm again. After that moment passed, she sat bolt upright and
yelled, "NO!"
Tails came awake at Sondra's cry, blinking his eyes confusedly for a
second or two. When his gaze locked on his wife's rigid form, he hurriedly
sat up. "Sondra?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulders gently.
"What's wrong?" Sondra said nothing, but the fear in her eyes showed that it
wasn't by choice. "Another nightmare?" he asked, hoping he was wrong. When
she nodded, he knew that he wasn't and he put his other arm around her and
held her close. "Do you remember this one?"
"No," Sondra whispered, having finally calmed down enough to speak as
she sank into her husband's embrace. "That's the third time this week."
"I know," Tails said, laying back and bringing Sondra down to lay next
to him, her head pillowed on his chest.
"If I could only remember them I could deal with them," Sondra growled,
getting agitated again until Tails started stroking her hair-quills. "I hate
not being able to do anything about them."
"Maybe you should speak to Tanis or Rosie about this," Tails suggested.
When he felt Sondra stiffen in his arms, he quickly kept talking. "Just think
about it for a minute. The dreams are stuck somewhere in your mind, and I'm
pretty sure they know a way to get them out for you. Like you said, you can't
deal with them until you know about them."
"No fair using my own words against me," Sondra muttered.
"Like you haven't with me?" Tails asked, kissing her forehead softly.
"I give you till lunch tomorrow to go on your own. If you haven't, then I'm
going to take you there myself, willing or not."
"You'll have to catch me first," Sondra murmured, her voice growing
heavy with sleep. Tails lay there and watched as his wife fell off to sleep
for a moment before closing his eyes and letting sleep claim him as well.
While the Prowers slumbered, Desirée D'Coolette toiled hard in the Great
Library. She put down the book she was looking through and sighed tiredly.
So far, she'd found nothing relating to any other lightning artifacts, and
she'd been at it for three nights now. "I don't know how DJ can do it," she
muttered, closing the book with a thud.
She looked over to where the object of her thoughts sat, and did a
double take when she saw him asleep, his head pillowed on the book before him.
"I guess he can't," she thought, a small smile touching her lips. Her mind
drifted back to a night not very long ago, a night where DJ had asked her...
no, nearly demanded to know why she loved him.
Desirée had known this night was coming; she was actually surprised that
it had taken so long to come. She'd gone into a number of reasons: how cute
he was, the way he smiled, the way he blushed, etc. But DJ had not been
satisfied by those answers. After all, those reasons could be used on at
least half the guys at the palace. But Desirée had remained firm, not
wavering despite DJ's repeated questioning looks. When DJ had finally
accepted those reasons, much to his dismay, that was when Desirée had decided
to put him out of his misery. "Those are the reasons I love you," she'd said,
lifting up his face so that she could look into his eyes, "but now I'll tell
you why I'm in love with you."
DJ's eyes had widened at that remark, then filled with amused anger that
he'd missed so obvious a distinction. He'd walked over to a nearby chair and
sat down, motioning for her to begin. Desirée had taken a seat next to him
and then taken a moment to get her thoughts together. "Where should I begin?"
she had wondered, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought. "I guess I should
begin with the first thing I noticed about you: your heart.
"Yes, your heart," she'd continued at DJ's look of surprise. "DJ, you
are the single kindest animal I know. Whenever you see someone sad, no matter
who it is or if you even know them, you try to make them feel better, even in
a little way. And not only do you try, you usually do it. You have a heart
big enough to love the entire planet sugah, and I love you all the more for
it.
"The next thing has to be your eyes. No, I'm not just talking about
their color, even though I love looking at them. I'm talking about how they
make me feel. DJ, when you look at me the right way, I can forget that we're
in a war, that I don't know when the Fallen Ones will strike again. The only
things in my world at the moment are you and me, and I know that somehow
everything will be all right. You're the only one that can make me feel like
that, and you have no idea just how much it means to me.
"And finally, and maybe the most important thing, is that you've always
had a crush on me." When DJ had looked at her in fear, Desirée couldn't help
but laugh. "DJ, I've known you had a crush on me since it started, but I
couldn't believe it. I mean, you've liked me even when I was a lanky little
kid with too long ears and too long legs. Every other boy my age except my
brother used to pick on me, even Juice! I mean, I know his was in fun and all
that, but the others were mean about it. I still remember how they'd make me
cry by pulling off my ribbons and tugging on my ears. Darrin would stick up
for me, but you were the one who'd always comfort me, even back then.
"Once I 'grew into my body' as Mom says, all the other boys stopped
teasing me and started trying to play nice to get at my heart, among other
things. But not you. You never treated me any different once my assets grew
in, except that you maybe got more shy. For a while, I thought you didn't
want to be around me anymore. But then I realized that you thought that you
weren't worthy of me. The fact is, I'm the one who's not worthy of you."
From the sharp looks she'd received when she said that, Desirée knew
that DJ would be yelling at her if he could. "DJ," she said softly, getting
his attention again, "do you have any idea how long I've been in love with
you? Ever since the day Nadine disappeared. When your heart broke that day,
I could feel my heart breaking with it. I knew from that moment on there
would never be another boy for me because the only way my heart could break
like that was if it were already tied to yours.
"I know you're wondering why I never said anything, right? Well, to be
honest, I was worried you would reject me. Oh don't look at me like that,"
she'd said when DJ looked at her like she was stupid. "Remember, this was
right about that time you were pulling away from me. Why was I gonna tell a
guy that I loved him when I didn't think he wanted to be anywhere around me?
By the time I had it figured out, I'd already become a flirt and I was afraid
you'd think I was just playing around with you. I couldn't risk losing you,
so I had to take things slow. And it was worth it, because now we are
together, just like I've always wanted us to be."
Once she had finished, they'd just sat there, looking at each other,
lost in their own thoughts. Then, for the first time, DJ had kissed her
instead of waiting for Desirée to make the first move. Looking back on it,
Desirée still blushed a bit from all the feelings that had gone through her
that day.
She stood up as the memory faded and walked over to where DJ still slept
and leaned over his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered in his ear before
tilting her head to place a soft kiss on his lips.
Even though he was still asleep at first, DJ returned the kiss. As he
woke up he sat up and hugged Desirée around her neck. When their lips finally
parted, he opened his eyes and smiled at her, cupping her cheek in his hand.
Desirée leaned into his hand and smiled back at him. "I love you," she
repeated. DJ nodded and lifted his free hand up with his thumb, index, and
pinky extended to sign back that he loved her too.
"What do you say we call it a night?" Desirée asked, reaching over to
close the book that DJ had been using as a pillow. "We're not gonna get too
much more done like this, so let's leave it for tomorrow night." DJ nodded
and began to tidy up the table a bit while Desirée shelved what books she
could.
But Desirée was more tired than she realized. As she shelved the books,
she stumbled a bit and leaned against the bookcase, causing it to tip away
from her slightly. She quickly grabbed hold of it and pulled it back toward
her, but she pulled a little too hard and the bookcase tipped into her,
spilling all its contents onto her before righting itself. "DJ!" she yelled,
managing to wriggle one arm free from the pile of books that buried her.
DJ ran over and quickly dug Desirée out, throwing books every which way
until he could see her face. He grabbed onto her hand and pulled her free,
making sure to take a step or two back to avoid the book that fell at his
feet. As she dusted herself off, he checked her over for any injuries. "I'm
fine," she said, giggling a bit as his fingers brushed over a ticklish spot.
"I guess we should...hang on, what's this?" she asked, picking up the book
that had fallen at DJ's feet. "The Lightning Rod?" she read off the page
that it had opened to.
DJ's eyes opened wide with shock, looking at the book that Desirée held
and reading the information upside down. Once they had both skimmed through
the passage, they looked at each other and smiled. "This is it!" she said,
giving him a quick hug. "And to think, who knows when we would've found it if
it hadn't.... Say," she continued after a moment's silence, "you don't think
this is the same bookcase your father kicked over when he needed to help Queen
Sally keep her throne on her eighteenth birthday, do you?"
DJ shrugged, remembering the story Desirée was mentioning but not having
any idea about it. "Doesn't really matter I guess," Desirée said with a shrug
of her own. "Come on, let's get back to the palace; we'll clean this up
later." DJ looked like he wanted to pick the books up then and there, but
after he took a really good look at just how big the pile was he just nodded
and followed her to the front door.
They left the library just as the eastern horizon grew light with the
first rays of the morning sun. DJ was about to activate their teleportation
chips when Desirée placed a hand on his. He looked up at her questioningly.
Desirée just smiled and turned her face toward the sunrise, intertwining her
fingers with his. DJ smiled as well and kissed the back of her hand softly as
he watched the sunlight reflect off his love's face.
It was about a half hour later that Alicia came across them in the
palace while going for her morning run. To be blunt, they both looked like
Death warmed over. But then that was their usual look after pulling an all-
nighter at the Library. She'd seen this before; in another minute they'd kiss
each other good night, or good morning as the case may be, and head off to
bed.
To her surprise, they turned and walked right toward her. It was only
then that she noticed that Desirée carried a book in her hands and Alicia
blanched. "Here ya go," Desirée said, shoving the book into Alicia's chest
hard enough to make the vixen stumble. "The page is marked so you shouldn't
have too much trouble looking things up. Wake me when you've got it."
"All right," Alicia agreed, a resigned note to her voice. An agreement
had been made among the Chosen Ones in the last few weeks to give Desirée and
DJ a break. If they found something that could be an artifact when they
weren't able to research it for themselves, they would hand the book or books
over to whichever Chosen One they ran into first upon returning to the palace.
And because she was usually the only one up around that time, they always ran
into Alicia. Granted, this was the first time they'd actually brought a book
back with them, but it didn't help Alicia feel any better about it. All
thoughts of her run banished from her mind, Alicia instead turned in the
direction of the palace's library, knowing she was likely to spend most of the
day there.
In the meantime, DJ trudged off in the direction of his family's rooms
with the full intention of falling into bed and not getting up until at least
lunchtime. "Welcome home DJ," the computer said as DJ opened the front door.
"You do realize you have company, don't you?" DJ was far too tired to care
about what the computer was saying, so he ignored it and headed in the
direction of his bedroom. "After all," the computer continued, "shouldn't you
both be going to your own beds?"
DJ stopped in his tracks at that comment, then turned around very slowly
and lifted his eyes from the ground. Desirée was standing there, looking at
him and waiting for him to keep moving. DJ took hold of her arm and tried to
turn her around, but Desirée just shrugged him off. "But your bed is closer
than mine," Desirée whined.
"You really do have to leave now," the computer said. "If you don't,
then I will have to try to make you leave." After a moment where she didn't
appear to be moving, depsite DJ's best attempts, the computer let out what
seemed to be a sigh. "It seems I don't have to after all."
"That's right, you don't," Nadia said, walking out of the bedroom with
only a short robe on. "Come on Desirée," she said, taking hold of the doe's
shoulders and marching her back out the door. "You know which way your bed
is."
Desirée glared at the door, wishing for a moment she could burn a hole
through it, and Nadia, with her eyes. "You're nothing but a hypocrite,
Nadia!" she yelled suddenly, startling a few animals who were in the area.
"You jumped into bed with Donovan the first opportunity you got, and now
you're stopping me from trying the same with your son. Don't you dare blame
me for something you did yourself!"
"Desirée Gwenaëlle D'Coolette!"
Desirée flinched as a muttered curse tumbled from her lips. "Full
name!" her sleep-addled brain was quick to point out.
Bunnie marched over and grabbed Desirée by the tip of one ear, causing
her to bite her lip to keep from yelping. "What do you think you were doing?"
Bunnie demanded, glaring long and hard at her daughter. "I know I raised you
better than that."
"But Mom--"
"Don't 'but Mom' me!" Bunnie said in a low voice that was somehow more
terrifying than if she had yelled. She began walking toward the rooms they
called home, dragging her daughter behind her. "You are going to bed right
now and I hope you get good rest. When you wake up--"
"Found an artifact!" Desirée interrupted quickly, trying to walk behind
her mother in such a way that it didn't look like she was being dragged.
Bunnie considered this as she walked. "All right," she allowed. "Fine.
That comes first. But don't think I'm gonna forget about this."
"You can stop dragging me now Mom," Desirée said. "Or at least turn
your arm back to flesh!"
On the other side of the Osaya door, DJ was just standing there, looking
at his mom in surprise. Nadia, for her part, was trying to will away the
blush that had bloomed on her cheeks. "It's a long story," she said, not
looking directly at DJ. "Weren't you going to bed?" When DJ didn't move, she
sighed. "Here's the short answer then: we didn't have parents around to stop
us. Now get to bed." DJ's expression clearly told his mother just how unfair
that sounded, but he went to bed without further protest. Unless, of course,
you counted the slamming of his door a protest.
Nadia sighed again as she went to prepare breakfast for when Donovan
awoke. "Not a word out of you computer," she said, putting a pot of coffee on
to boil.
"You have to tell him you know," the computer said.
"We will when he's ready," Nadia insisted, looking through her cupboards
for the oatmeal.
"When will that be?"
"When I decide he is," Nadia said with a tone of finality.
As DJ settled himself in for a nice, long sleep, someone else far away
from the palace was trying to stay awake. Krella blinked her eyes once, then
twice as the printing on the page in front of her started to blur together.
Growling, she shook her head to clear her vision and focused back on the book
in her lap.
"Up early again?" Tanin asked, closing the door behind him as he
entered the library. "Or is it up late?"
Krella snorted as she turned a page. "The Emerald is over there," she
said, pointing in the general direction without looking up from her reading.
"Do what you have to and then leave."
Tanin was already walking over to where the Lightning Emerald sat, lit
with a flickering light. Black bands of energy surrounded the Emerald,
looking a bit fainter than the Emerald itself. A short chant from Tanin and
the bands strengthened, pulsing in time with the flickers of light.
"It's done," Tanin said, even though he knew that Krella was probably
not listening. Every morning, Tanin had to place a spell around the Emerald
to keep the energy that was already inside it from beginning to dissipate.
If the Emerald lost too much energy, then acquiring the other half of the
Power Stone would be useless as there wouldn't be enough magic there to fully
charge the Emerald.
"Now you can leave," Krella said, waving him away. "I've found another
artifact we can use, but I can't figure out how to get to it."
"I will figure it out," Tanin said as he took the book away from her.
"You will get some rest, is that understood?"
Krella opened her mouth to argue but snapped her jaws shut at Tanin's
insistent look. "Very well," she said, standing up and having to grab onto
the table to stop herself from swaying. "But I want you to wake me the moment
you're done. Or when Father wants me. Or just let me wake up on my own.
Whichever comes first."
Tanin watched with a smirk as Krella stumbled toward the doorway. "So
do you need me to carry you?" he asked as she tried to open the door with
limited success. He turned his attention to the book before she answered, but
the low snarl that reached his ears was answer enough.
The morning sun had hidden itself behind a few clouds at around the time
when Krella finally succumbed to sleep. When it reappeared, it was greeted by
a pair of bright crystal blue eyes. "What a great day this is going to be!"
Sarah said, kicking the covers aside and jumping out of bed. "I'm finally
ten!"
She ran over to her closet, her two tails wagging behind her in her
excitement. Instead of pulling out a vest and jumpsuit like her mother wore,
which was her usual outfit, she decided to wear a dark brown dress that her
parents had bought for her but she'd never worn. Then again, she never really
had a reason to. After she was dressed, and had put a matching ribbon on each
of her tails, she half-skipped, half-flew out into the kitchen. "Good
morning!" she said cheerfully.
Sondra lifted her head from where it rested on the table, fixing her
daughter with a bleary gaze. "How can you be so cheerful this early in the
morning?" she asked, letting her head fall back down.
"Oh come on Mom," Sarah said, giving her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Today's a wonderful day!"
"Your mom's had a rough night," Tails said, setting some toast down on
the table. "Try to tone it down a little today, please?"
"Yeah but today's a special day!" Sarah said, giving her dad a hug.
"But Sarah...."
"I mean, it only comes around once a year."
"Come on, Sarah...."
"And this one's extra special because--"
"Sarah!" Sondra yelled unexpectedly, nearly making Sarah fall from her
chair. "I don't care what day it is and I don't care why it's so special. I
just want you to be quiet, ok?"
"But--"
"Just do it!" she said, glaring angrily at her daughter.
Sarah's lip quivered as tears collected at the corners of her eyes.
"You're so mean!" she cried, jumping off her chair and flying full speed for
the front door.
She was crying so much that she didn't even notice her older brother was
in her way, but he certainly noticed her heading for him. "Look out!" he
yelled, ducking under her as she flew overhead. "What's her problem?" he
wondered as she slammed the door shut behind her.
Sarah flew around the halls aimlessly, trying to calm herself down. But
all that was happening was that she was making herself angrier. On every past
birthday that she could remember, everyone she met would have a "Happy
Birthday" for her. But today, no one even acknowledged her. "What is with
everyone today?" she wondered. "Am I invisible or something?"
<<>> a familiar voice said that only
she could hear. <<>>
"I'm not in the mood to hear this today," Sarah muttered.
<<>>
Sarah sighed, setting down in an otherwise empty hallway. "Thank you,"
she whispered.
<<>>
"Whatever," Sarah said, sitting down on the floor and looking out a
nearby window.
That afternoon, after she was somewhat rested, Desirée walked toward the
library to attend the meeting that Alicia had called. Darrin had woken her
and informed her of the meeting just moments before, and he had looked about
as happy as she felt. "Must've been on another date," she mused, holding in a
yawn.
"Miles!" she heard Sondra yell. "You really don't have to do this."
Curiosity got the better of Desirée and she took a slight detour to see
what was going on. Tails had his wife by the hands and was flying her through
the palace. "You've had plenty of time to go on your own," he said, weaving
and dodging through the air to keep Sondra from getting any running going.
"I'm taking you to Sanctuary whether you like it or not."
"I wonder what's goin' on with them," Desirée thought after they were
out of sight. Shrugging it off, she hurried to the library and took her seat.
"Glad to see you made it," Alicia said with a smirk. "Now that we're
all here, we can begin." She pulled Nicole from her pocket and opened her up.
"Nicole, please display information on the Lightning Rod."
"Displaying now, Alicia," Nicole said as a hologram of a brown rod,
about a foot and a half in length, and topped with a yellow and white crystal.
"The Lightning Rod is an artifact from the days of the mages, a now virtually
extinct group of Mobians able to use magic similar to how a Holy One might,
but in a different manner. Where a Holy One calls upon the Almighty to grant
him or her power, a mage is able to tap into the planet's magic and shape it
to his or her own uses."
"That's not completely true Nicole," Angela said, interrupting the
computer. "There were a sect of mages known as sorcerors that were able to
tap into the magic that they were born with. Naugus is a sorceror, from what
I've heard."
"Updating entries," Nicole said, beeping for a few moments before
continuing her explanation. "Updating complete, thank you for the information
Angela."
"Glad to be of help," Angela said with a small smile.
"Please, continue Nicole," Alicia said.
"Continuing explanation. The Lightning Rod was created to harness the
power of the lightning that often streaked across the sky, calling it and
storing the power within itself. The power could be discharged at will at any
level from a small, continuous jolt to every volt it contained.
"The mages who created the Lightning Rod had intended for it to be a
power source that could revolutionize civilization as they knew it, but its
other use became quickly apparent. The leader of that city quickly used it as
a weapon of war, subduing his enemies...or worse.
"The mages were horrified at this and quickly stole the Rod away,
sealing it away in a building that they designed specifically to protect it.
Many pathways exist in the building, making it a virtual maze with hundreds of
dead ends, most of them ending in a rather horrible death."
"Why does this seem to be the norm lately?" Juice said. "Everything we
need to go after is protected by deadly traps or something of the sort. It's
all getting to be a bit much."
"Well what do you expect?" Alicia said, annoyed. "If they weren't
protected, the Fallen Ones would've already restored the Emeralds and revived
Chaos. And besides, everything like that so far has been protected until
someone worthy came for it. This is the first thing we've come across that's
been protected to keep everyone out. Not to mention it's protected by mage
magic, which we know very little about."
"That doesn't matter," Juice said confidently. "Angela's the most
powerful Holy One ever. No magic can stand up to her."
"I don't know about that Juice," Angela said, though she was blushing at
his compliment. "One thing my father told me never to do was mix magics.
I'll only try something like that as a last resort. You can't count on my
help with this one. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it Angela," Alicia said. "I'm sure we can find other
ways around their defenses. Nicole, display the partial schematic of the
building we found."
"Displaying now Alicia," Nicole said, replacing the hologram of the Rod
with the requested map.
"This is the eastern entrance to the building," Alicia said, pointing at
it with her finger. "The Rod should be held somewhere near the center of the
building. Unfortunately, the map doesn't extend that far in."
"Then I guess we should feel lucky to have what we do," Darrin said.
"Not to mention your love of solving mazes."
"Just one more thing I have in common with my mom," Alicia agreed. "All
right, here's the plan."
While the Chosen Ones were planning out their strategy, Krella's eyes
were just fluttering open. "Much better," she proclaimed, arching her back to
stretch out a couple of kinks. She rolled out of bed and walked over to her
bathroom to take a nice, long, hot shower.
The only really bad thing about having fur as bushy as hers was that it
got dirty really quickly. She was nowhere near as fanatical about her looks
as Charisma was, with good reason she told herself, but a long shower was one
of the few luxuries she pampered herself with.
After she had showered, dried and brushed her fur, and dressed, she felt
ready to continue with her research. When she opened the door, she was
surprised to see Tanin on the other side, fist raised to knock. "I was just
coming to get you," he said. "I've finished the research."
"Good timing," Krella said with a smirk. She happened to glance out a
window and had to do a double take when she noticed the position of the sun.
"Why did you let me sleep so long?" she demanded, the fur on her tail
bristling in her annoyance.
"When the research was done," Tanin said, holding up one finger, "when
Father wanted you," he continued, adding another finger, "or when you woke up
on your own," he ended, holding up a final finger.
Krella grimaced as Tanin reminded her of her own words. "Fine, but I
want to hear what you found and I want to hear it now."
"I left the information in the library," Tanin said as he stepped aside
so that Krella could leave her room. "I'll show you what I found when we get
there."
"Whatever," Krella said, walking briskly toward the library. She hadn't
even gotten ten steps when she nearly ran into Charisma. "What do you want?"
"Glad to see you're awake," Charisma said, flipping her hair in a sure
sign of agitation. "You could be a little nicer to me, especially when I have
news for you."
"What news could you possibly have that I'd be interested in?"
"The Chosen Ones are on the move. They know where the next artifact
is."
"They what?" Krella screeched. "OK, change of plans. Tanin, go find
Maxwell and bring him to the library. Charisma, you get Destín there. I'll
get Hugo."
"Do I have to?" Charisma complained. "You know how Destín gets when
she doesn't want to go anywhere."
Krella turned and fixed Charisma with a glittering green gaze. "If she
gives you trouble, just tell her that if she's not in the library by the time
I get there, I'll send Hugo to have some playtime with the walls of her room."
While the Fallen Ones were gathered and immediately put to task, another
young lady was at a task of her own. Sarah sat in her bedroom at a small
writing desk, staring out her window when she knew she should be working.
"Some birthday this is turning out to be," she muttered, forcing her eyes down
to the papers in front of her. "I don't even get out of doing homework."
One of the first things Sally had insisted on when she became queen was
that every child be given the opportunity to learn whatever they wished to.
The plan had been to have children homeschooled until they reached the age of
sixteen or so, then to allow them to study under someone who had mastered the
field they were interested in, provided they had an interest to begin with.
Eventually, a proper school system would be instituted, once they could build
the schools and train the teachers. But with the coming of the Fallen Ones,
that plan had fallen by the wayside, at least until the situation was dealt
with. But that didn't mean the homeschooling was stopped, much to the
children's chagrin.
<<>> a familiar voice asked inside her head.
"You already know the answer to that," Sarah thought back, her annoyance
clear in her thoughts.
<<>>
"Unless you have a way to--"
<<>>
"Really?" Sarah asked, perking up in surprise and anticipation.
<<>>
"You're on!" Sarah said, standing up and opening the window. "Where
are you?"
<<>> the voice said as she flew from the window, her
studies forgotten. <<>>
A smile broke out on Sarah's face for the first time since that morning, but
it may not have been there if she'd heard the evil chuckle that had sounded
down in the depths of her mind.
The flight Sarah was choosing to make was long, long enough for two
whirlwinds to appear near the hidden resting location of the Lightning Rod.
A white one appeared in the jungle to the east, and a black one to the west.
"This is as close as I dare to take us," Angela said as her winds slowly
dissipated. "Any closer and I could've tripped a magical alarm."
"That would probably be bad, wouldn't it?" Darrin asked, his hand
straying to the hilt of his sword.
"That would have been very bad," Angela confirmed, moving aside so that
he and his sister could hack through the jungle foliage.
"Are you sure you couldn't have dropped us closer?" Destín whined as
the Fallen Ones mirrored the movements of the Chosen Ones.
"The consequences would have been grave if I had done so," Tanin said
calmly, watching as Hugo and Maxwell carved a path of destruction through the
jungle.
"It can't be any worse than walking through this," Destín muttered, to
which Charisma agreed.
"You wouldn't say that if your head had been on Hugo's body when we
materialized."
Everyone just stopped to look at Tanin, even Maxwell. "That is a scary
thought," Charisma said, a shudder running through her body.
"Hugo not like that," Hugo said, ripping up an entire tree and tossing
it aside carelessly.
"But think of the misery it would cause," Maxwell said, actually
sounding pleased with the thought.
"Maxy, I don't like that kind of misery when I'm the one who's suffering
it," Charisma said angrily.
As both groups finally managed to penetrate the outer walls, Sarah
arrived at her destination. "You called me out here?" she asked aloud,
looking around at the desolate wasteland before her. "What a dump!"
<<>> the voice in her head said, sounding
a little affronted. <<>>
"I'm sorry," Sarah said, immediately apologetic.
<<>>
"I do!" Sarah protested as she set down to rest her tails.
<<>>
"Where is it?" Sarah asked, looking around. "I don't see any homes or
anything else really."
<<>>
Sarah jumped in surprise as a purple portal with yellow banding opened
up beneath her. It wasn't very big, so Sarah thought she'd be able to jump
clear easily. But to her fear, she found that the portal was pulling her in.
"What are you doing?" she cried, trying to fly away but being slowly dragged
inside.
<<>> the voice said with a dark chuckle as
Sarah's tails gave out and she fell screaming through the portal.
Though the wastelands were desolate and uninhabited, there were a few
who knew what had happened. One sat in Sanctuary, in a dream-like trance,
becoming more and more agitated as she "watched" the events unfold. "Sarah!"
Sondra yelled, violently snapping from her trance.
Rosie, who had been holding Sondra in the trance so she could remember
her dreams, fell backward out of her chair and bumped her head on the floor.
"Ow!" she yelled, immediately cradling her head in her hands.
"What happened?" Tanis and Tails asked together, rushing into the room
where the ladies were. Tanis ran over to where Rosie lay and immediately set
about healing her head.
Tears leaked out from between Sondra's clenched eyelids. "He has her,"
she whispered as her body started to shake. "He has my baby!"
"Who?" Tails demaded, trying to ignore the feeling of unease that was
trying to crawl up his spine. "Who are you talking about?" Sondra opened her
eyes to look at her husband. "Oh no," he whispered, looking into Sondra's now
crystalline-colored eyes.
"I don't know how he's back," Sondra whispered, looking down at her
hands that had begun to glow with all the colors of the rainbow, "but I know
he has Sarah."
"Get out of here then," Tanis said as he helped Rosie back to her feet.
"Do you know where to go? I'll teleport you there."
"Back to where this all started," Sondra said in a slow, firm voice.
The others who knew what happened were near the palace, watching as a
young fox writhed around on the floor of his room in agony so intense he
couldn't even scream. "I have to go to him!" Amy Rose said, trying to pull
herself from Nicholas' grasp. "He needs me!"
"Not a possibility," Nicholas said sternly, not even loosening his
grip slightly on either Amy or the tree in which they were perched. "If we
had gotten here earlier, perhaps we could have slipped in in time for you to
be with him."
"Don't blame this on me Nicholas," Lily said, her voice emotionless
except for a hint of anger. "You know how hard it is to find Amy when she
doesn't want to be found. I was lucky to find her as quickly as I did."
"You should not have even left her out of your sight," Nicholas
countered as he continued to watch M3 squirm, his hands pressed over his eyes.
"When she is in my charge I never lose track of her."
"Is that a fact?" Lily asked, quirking one eyebrow at the cloaked
figure beside her.
"Of course it is."
"Then where is she now?"
"You know very well--" Nicholas stopped when he realized all he was
holding in his hand was Amy's cloak. He quickly scanned the area and saw Amy
running toward the palace. "Don't just stand--" He cut himself off for the
second time when he saw Lily already hurrying to retrieve Amy.
Amy's head start was only a few seconds, not nearly enough for her to
reach the palace entrance before Lily could reach her. But it was enough for
someone to swoop down and snatch her. "Thanks for making yourself such an
easy target kid," Rouge said, tilting her wings to gain altitude before Lily
could react. "I was wondering if I'd ever get a chance like--YOW!"
Rouge's exclamation of pain was caused by Amy's rapidly flailing legs,
which were impacting with her shins more often than not. "Let go of me!" Amy
yelled, kicking both feet back at the same time.
Rouge winced as she tried to keep her grip on Amy, but the slight
separation her kicks were causing were enough for the young pink hedgehog to
squirt free and drop to the ground below. "You little brat," Rogue snarled as
she dropped to the ground in front of her. "You're lucky I won't hurt a kid,
otherwise I'd--"
"You'd what?" Lily demanded, interposing herself between Rouge and Amy
and immediately adopting a defensive stance.
"Did anyone ever tell you how rude you are?" Rouge asked, snapping off
a spinning heel kick that Lily ducked. "You should always let a lady finish
her thoughts."
"Show me a lady and I will," Lily returned, jumping toward Rouge with a
right hook.
"Sorry little girl," Rouge said as she took to the air, "I'm not here to
waste my time with you." She got ready to fly over Lily to get to Amy, but
noticed that Nicholas had already gotten there and secured Amy in his arms.
"You guys never let me catch a break," Rouge said with a pout. "I mean come
on, isn't this getting old for you? Just let me take her off your hands and
you'll never have to worry about her again."
"No deal," Lily said, backing up nearer to Nicholas and Amy. "And the
only thing around here getting old is you."
"Keep telling yourself that," Rouge said, waving off Lily's comment. "I
guess that's the only way you can convince yourself that he'd ever be
interested in a child like you. Face it, the real reason he's not your
boyfriend right now is because he needs a woman to satisfy his needs, which
you obviously are not. Ta ta!"
"I'm not going to react," Lily muttered to herself, her fists clenching
and unclenching as she took deep breaths to calm down. "I'm just going to let
it go.... When the Abyss ceases to exist!" she yelled, the eyes behind her
shades now so red that their glow could be seen around the shades' edges.
"Lily!" Nicholas said sharply as Lily activated her rocket boots to
pursue after a fleeing Rouge. "Forget about her! We have our duty to
perform!"
"I'm tired of her!" Lily growled, her teeth bared in anger. "This ends
now!"
Amy hugged herself closer to Nicholas, an action she didn't do often.
"Lily you're scaring me!" she cried.
All the anger in Lily's body froze at those words, leaving her feeling
tired and burnt out. She slowly turned around to face Amy, and recoiled from
the fear on her face. "I swore I'd never put that expression on your face
again," Lily whispered, dropping to her knees in front of Amy. "Can you
forgive me?"
Amy launched herself from Nicholas' arms into Lily's. "Just don't do it
again," she whispered.
Lily wrapped her arms around Amy Rose and held her close. "So what do
we do now?" she asked, looking up at Nicholas.
"We are not needed here," Nicholas said. "We should go to where the
true incident is occurring. Just make sure you keep your emotions in check.
Both of you."
"But what about M3?" Amy asked, looking back at the palace and chewing
on her lower lip in worry."
"We can best help him by helping his sister," Nicholas said.
Nearly a half hour after those three had left the palace grounds, Sarah
emerged from a Void portal and set foot on the wastelands again. But this
wasn't the same Sarah that had went in. She was at least a foot and a half
taller, a towering height for a Mobian. Her dress was ripped now from the
sudden growth spurt, and not just her height. Her form had filled out
impossibly well, as if crafted that way and not allowed to grow normally. But
then, such a change could never be called normal.
"Ahh, finally," she said in a voice far deeper than her voice used to be
as she opened her crystalline colored eyes. "Finally I am free of my prison.
And they thought I was dead."
A white whirlwind whipped up nearby, making Sarah shield her face with
her arms. "Sarah!" Tails and Sondra called from within the whirlwind as the
winds died down. As one, they stepped back in shock when they saw their
daughter. "Sarah?" Tails whispered quietly, his eyes glued on this thing
that could not, but had to be his daughter.
"What's the matter Dad?" Sarah asked, fixing him with her crystalline
gaze. "Don't like it that your baby girl is all grown up? Well too bad!
This is who I am now and there's nothing you can do to change it." A cold,
evil laugh welled up from inside Sarah, but it was cut short by a sudden gasp
of pain. Sarah pressed her fingers to her cheek and was surprised to see them
come away wet with blood.
"You bastard!" Sondra swore, a number of crystal shards floating above
her palm. "Get out of my daughter now!"
"So you figured it out, did you?" Sarah asked, her voice now that of
the Void's. "Well you can't have her back. She's mine now, and she will be
my instrument of revenge upon you and this world."
"Yeah right, like I believe that," Sondra said, forming a crystal spear
between her hands. "For all I know you're just some construct of my daughter
and she's trapped inside the Void. You manipulated me once, I'm not letting
you do it again!"
Sarah, or perhaps what was pretending to be Sarah, smirked and formed
her own crystal spear. "Let's see what you got then Mom," she said, nearly
snarling the last word.
Sondra ran to attack, using her speed to attack quickly and often.
dodged or parried each blow, but was surely being driven back with no
opening for an attack. "It shouldn't be like this," she thought as one of
Sondra's attacks grazed her other cheek. "I should be faster and stronger
than her in every way. Where is she getting her power from?"
It wasn't until she looked into Sondra's crystalline eyes that she
received her answer. "She's drawing energy from me! I thought that
connection was severed when she tried to destroy me. No wonder I can't get
any power stored; I thought it was just because the body was fighting me."
The realization took 's mind off the fight for just a split
second, but that was all it took for Sondra to disarm her and knock her to the
ground. "Tell me where my daughter is!" she yelled, holding her spear's
point at 's throat.
looked up at Sondra, fear creeping into her expression as her
eyes reverted to their normal crystal blue color. "Momma?" she whispered
softly, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Sondra's hands began trembling as she stared into her daughter's eyes.
It had to be her she realized; she knew her daughter too well to be fooled by
a mere construct. "Sarah?" Sondra asked, the point of her spear falling away
from her daughter's throat.
's eyes hardened in an instant as they returned to crystalline.
"Fool," she muttered, holding up her hand. Before Sondra could recover, an
iridescent beam shot out from her hand, knocking Sondra away and pinning her
to the ground under a web of crystal. got to her feet with every
intention of finishing her mother off, but was tackled to the side by her
father. "Get off!" she yelled, struggling to push him away.
"Sarah!" Tails yelled, trapping her wrists above her head as he held
her down. "Come on Sarah, fight him!"
"Your daughter is gone," said, the Void's voice now completely
overpowering her own. "I'm all that's left now."
"I won't believe that. Sarah, come back to us! We love you!" At his
words, flinched as though she'd been slapped. "That's right, you
don't like that word, do you?" Tails said as he remembered his last
confrontation with the Void. "Well you better get used to it because I love
my daughter!"
"Get away from me!" screamed, a light exploding from her body
and throwing Tails back with small crystals hanging from his fur. "I'll be
back," she said, panting hard as she opened a portal. "And when I do, I'll
have too much power for anyone to stop me."
Tails tried to shake off the crystals and dive for , but she
escaped into the Void before he could. "We've lost her," he said, falling to
his knees.
"Not yet we haven't," Sondra said, bursting free from the crystal web
that held her. It had been many years since she had done this, but somewhere
within her mind still lay the knowledge to open a portal into the Void. "I'm
going in after her," she said, stopping Tails as he tried to follow. "No
Miles, I need you out here in case she gets away from me."
Tails nodded once, then swept Sondra up in a hug and kissed her deeply,
although briefly. "Go," he whispered against her lips, "bring our daughter
back to us."
From a nearby outcropping, three figures watched as Sondra ran into the
portal. "We need to do something," Lily said quietly. "Things are bad enough
with the Fallen Ones running around."
"And what do you suggest we do?" Nicholas asked. "We can't exactly go
after them. All we can do is wait here for their return."
"They said something about love hurting the Void, didn't they? Yes, I
know how you feel about that word," Lily continued, forestalling Nicholas'
argument, "but this may be our only chance."
"So what would you have me do?"
"Go get her brother and bring him back here. They're going to need
everyone they can."
"There's only one way to get him here in time. Surely you can't be
asking me to do that?"
"That's exactly what I'm asking. Think of the alternative."
"I'm going with you," Amy said before the argument went any further.
"Amy," Nicholas began slowly, speaking in measured tones, "you know how
hard this will be for me. If I bring you too it will only be that much more
difficult."
"But he won't go with you," Amy pointed out. "He doesn't like you."
"She has a point," Lily said, scanning the wasteland for any sign of a
portal opening. "We don't have the time to argue. Just take her and go!"
She purposely didn't turn around, hoping that it would end the discussion. A
cold shiver ran through her body, and she knew that they had left. "Let's
just hope you get back before I'm needed," she thought.
No sooner had she said that than a portal opened a few yards from where
Tails was waiting. came flying out at full speed, tossing crystals
behind her furiously. Sondra was clearly her target, but she was able to use
her speed and her crystals to avoid any of her daughter's attacks. "You're
not getting away from me!" Sondra yelled, slowly closing the gap between
herself and her daughter.
Without warning, did a quick u-turn and blew past her mother,
disrupting her stride and making her fall on her face and skid forward a
little. "Looks like I don't have to!" said as she flew away.
"Forgot about me?" Tails called from above, making look up just
in time to get a foot in her face.
"Ow!" said in her little girl's voice, holding her head as she
fell to the ground. "Dad!" she whined.
"I'm not falling for that," Tails said, diving down elbow first.
rolled out of the way and scrambled back to her feet. "Just
remember," she said, her voice that of the Void once more, "whatever you do to
me you're also doing to your daughter." That gave Tails pause, but
was unable to take advantage of it. "I barely have enough power to keep in
control here," she thought, feeling the real Sarah trying to break at the
chains that held her captive in her mind. "The longer I fight, the harder it
becomes."
While Tails and Sondra continued to harass their daughter to keep her
from gaining power, their son sat quietly inside his room, his eyes covered by
shades. The unbelievable pain had faded away to an insistent throbbing in his
eyes, but it was kept managable as long as he didn't look at anything too
bright. "I want my parents," he moaned. "I'd even take my younger sister!"
"Will you take me?" a soft voice asked as two small hands camp up to
massage his temples.
M3 jumped in surprise and turned around, coming face to face with a
shyly smiling Amy Rose. "Amy?" he whispered, thinking his eyes were playing
tricks on him. "How...how did you get here?"
"He brought me," Amy said, pointing at Nicholas who looked a little
worse for wear. M3 tried to jump back, but Amy grabbed onto his hand and held
him. "We need you to come with us," she said seriously. "Your sister's in
trouble and needs your help."
"Sarah?" M3 asked. "What's going on? What's wrong with her?"
"There's no time to explain," Nicholas said through gritted teeth. "You
have to come with us."
"He's right," Amy said quickly. "Will you come?"
"Of course I will," M3 said with obvious false bravado. "I'm supposed
to take care of Sarah. That's what older brothers do, isn't it?"
Amy slipped her hand into M3's making both him and her blush slightly.
"Let's go then," she said. "I just have to warn you, this is gonna be
freaky."
Nicholas wasn't the only one worse for wear, but the Chosen Ones had
their own reasons. "We've been shot at," Juice said as they walked around a
corner.
"Fell down a pitfall," Darrin continued.
"Almost squashed between two walls," Desirée added.
"Singed by flamethrowers," Alicia pointed out, patting down the burn
marks on her jogging suit just to make sure they were still out.
"And we're here," Angela said.
"We are?" the other four asked, hurrying to the room where Angela
stood. As Angela had said, the Lightning Rod sat before them on an ordinary
looking pedestal, exactly how Nicole had pictured it for them. The yellow and
white crystal that sat atop it was pulsing with the energy it stored, and the
lights in the room dimmed and brightened in time with the pulsing.
"You know," Juice said as they stepped toward it, "I was beginning to
hate this place. But before they had taken more than a handful of steps, the
Fallen Ones burst into the room from the opposite doorway, each one looking
like they had been dragged through the mud, literally. "Scratch that," Juice
said as he locked eyes with a highly upset Destín, "I do hate this place."
The Chosen Ones and the Fallen Ones rushed at each other in anger borne of
desperation, holding nothing back because they had precious little left as it
was.
Unaware of the massive fight that was transpiring, Tails and Sondra
continued to press their attack on . was slowly weakening,
getting slower and slower in her attacks and defenses. As such, Tails and
Sondra were being forced to hold back so that they didn't injure their
daughter too much. "Give it up!" Sondra said, tripping so that she
landed hard.
"Not on your life!" snarled, placing her hands on the ground
and covering it in smooth crystal. Tails flew up to avoid it, but Sondra
slipped and fell, striking her head on a sharp crystal that jutted up from the
ground.
"Sondra!" Tails yelled, flying down and pulling Sondra to a clear area
and checking his unconscious wife for injury. A thin rivulet of blood ran
from a flesh wound near her ear, but it didn't seem dangerous.
"Bye Dad!" called, acting like all she was going to do was
visit a friend as she opened up a portal. "I'll see you soon...but you won't
want to see me!" Tails ran toward her, knowing that if she disappeared into
the portal, he'd never get his daughter back. But he was too far away and she
was too close. It looked like nothing could stop her until a small metal ball
landed at her feet. "What's this?" she asked, looking down at it.
As soon as her full focus was on it, the ball exploded into a bright
light, tossing her to the ground with a cry of surprise and pain. The portal
shimmered and closed, 's concentration broken. She staggered back to
her feet, wiping furiously at her eyes. No sooner had her vision cleared than
she saw a female squirrel in front of her. "Who are you?" she demanded, her
eyes hardening.
"No one you need to concern yourself with," Lily said, striking her in
the chest with an open palm strike with her non-robotic hand.
was thrown back a few steps from the force of the blow. "That
didn't hurt as I thought it would," she said, rubbing her chest. "Must be all
the new padding I have." Lily charged forward silently and landed a dropsault
to 's face. She then used the momentum from flipping backward to land
on one hand and lash out with a scissor sweep kick, but took to the
air to avoid it. "I don't know who you are, but I'd like to see you try to
get up here and do that."
"I won't have to," Lily said with a smirk.
's eyes widened in surprise and she wheeled around quickly. But
she wasn't quick enough to defend against Tails' punch, which landed squarely
on her jaw. "Oof!" she uttered, the breath driven from her body as she
landed on the ground.
"What are you doing here?" Tails asked, hovering next to Lily as he
waited for to get up.
"Just be glad I am," Lily said, springing forward into a handstand and
spinning around to catch in the chin with both feet which were split
to the sides.
wiped a trickle of blood from her chin angrily, glaring at Tails
and Lily. "You think you're so smart," she said, getting up to her feet.
Unbeknownst to her, the very shadow she cast upon the ground was growing and
rising up into a rather large shape.
slowly turned around as a cold shiver ran through her body,
feeling like someone was watching her. And sure enough, a skunk wearing a
cloak was there, glaring at her. Before her brain could process this new
arrival, he lunged forward and headbutted her in the nose, making her fall
back with a cry that was more anger than pain. She extended her hand blindly
and shot a shower of crystal shards in his direction.
Nicholas turned around and hunched over, taking the brunt of the attack
in the back. The cloak deflected most of the crystals harmlessly, but a few
managed to pierce both it and his skin. He opened his cloak and shooed the
children out from underneath it. "Go!" he hissed at them, the pain dropping
him to his knees.
"You're finished," snarled, ignoring Lily's screams as she
unleashed another crystal shard shower on Nicholas.
Nicholas braced himself for the impact as best he could, but the impact
never came. With his last bit of energy, he turned around and saw a crystal
shield protecting him. The next thing he saw was black as unconsciousness
overtook his senses.
"I thought I took care of you!" yelled as Sondra dissolved her
crystal shield.
"You should always make sure," Sondra said, trying not to wobble as she
shook off her dizziness.
"I won't make that same mistake twice," swore, readying another
spear. But before she could throw it, a weight attached itself to her waist.
"What the--?"
"Stop it Sarah!" M3 said, hugging his sister closer.
"Get off me you brat!" said, swinging her spear at her brother.
<<>>
The spear stopped inches from M3's head, trembling as tried to
force herself to follow through on her strike. "Don't interfere!" she
muttered under her breath.
<<>>
While was arguing with herself, Tails and Sondra both hurried
forward and wrapped their arms around their daughter. But they weren't trying
to restrain her, they were simply hugging her. But it seemed to be more
effective than anything they had tried before. "Come back to us Sarah,"
Sondra whispered, bathing her daughter's face in her tears.
screamed as a pink light erupted from her body, throwing all
three family members from her. They got up quickly to defend against an
attack, but one wasn't coming. Instead, was floating in mid-air,
hunched up in a ball, surrounded by a sphere of pink light. "What's going
on?" M3 asked, reaching forward to touch the light.
"Don't!" Sondra said, snatching him back. As they all watched,
's form began to shift back and forth between her adult self and her
child self. "What's going on in there?" she asked, echoing the thoughts of
her son.
Unseen to everyone there, Sarah and the Void were arguing inside her
mind. <<>> the Void said, his wraith-like form
advancing on Sarah's.
"I belong to nobody!" Sarah yelled, flying out of the way. "Get out of
ny head!"
<<>>
"This is my mind! You don't belong here, now get out!"
The Void screamed in frustration as his form was ejected from Sarah's
body, who then collapsed facefirst on the ground, completely spent. <<>> he said, his anger making everyone there take a step back.
<<>>
"No!" Amy cried, jumping at M3 and using her body to protect him.
"Leave him alone!" Sondra said, trying to draw on every last bit of
power she could from the Void.
<<>> the Void said, diving straight at M3 with the intent of
going through Amy if he had to.
M3 glared up at the Void, his shades falling by the wayside to reveal
his eyes shining bright with all the colors of the rainbow. "You get away
from her!" he yelled, extending his hand toward the Void. A bright pink
light shot out from his fingertips, surrounding the Void's form instantly.
<<>> But try as the Void might, it
could not escape the light that encased it. M3 poured all his strength into
the beam of light with a cry, forcing the beam to coalesce into a crystal
around the Void's essence. He held on with everything he had, shrinking the
crystal to the smallest he could before passing out.
Sondra snatched the crystal before it could hit the ground, cradling it
carefully in her hand. She peered intently at it, shocked to see the Void's
essence still trapped inside. She could see it slamming against the crystal,
raging as it tried to escape. But for now at least, it could not.
Tails ran past her to see to their daughter, which pulled her from her
surprise. "Sarah!" she yelled, hurrying over and helping Tails turn her over
onto her back. "Oh no," she whispered. Sarah had reverted back to her true
height, but her body was still formed as an adult's. Seeing her daughter like
this reminded her too keenly of just what she and Tails had gone through, and
what she had hoped neither of her children would.
"Momma?" Sarah whispered, her eyes fluttering open slightly. Both
Tails and Sondra were relieved to see that her eyes and her voice were back to
normal. "I'm sorry."
"Hush now," Tails said, gathering her up in his arms. "Just rest."
"Miles?" Sondra called, making Tails look at her. "Not you, our son,"
she explained.
"He's all right," Amy Rose said as Sondra ran over. "He's just tired."
"What happened?" Sondra asked, kneeling down next to them.
Amy Rose shrugged, brushing M3's hair back out of his face as she held
his head pillowed on her lap. "He saved me," she whispered. "That's all I
know."
"Amy!" Lily called, her voice strained as she struggled to lift the
limp form of Nicholas onto her shoulders. "We have to go now."
"But--"
"Please dont argue with me," Lily said, trying to stay upright.
Amy nodded quietly as Sondra pulled M3 into her arms. "Take care of
him," Amy whispered before running over next to Lily.
"Wait!" Sondra yelled as they started to leave. "Thank you," she said
in a quieter voice.
The corners of Lily's mouth twitched up in a slight smile. "Just doing
our duty," she said before somehow changing her boots into inline skates and
skating away as quickly as she could manage.
Tails walked over and kneeled down next to his wife, Sarah still in his
arms. "Let's get home," he whispered, to which Sondra slowly nodded.
Back at the palace, the Chosen Ones were limping through the hallways as
they made their way to the throne room. "This has just been a lousy day,"
Juice muttered. "Even after all we went through, they still got away with
it."
"Don't you think you're understating things just a little?" Alicia
asked. "This makes four Emeralds that they've been able to recharge."
"Not entirely true."
The Chosen Ones turned as one to see James casually leaning against a
wall. "What do you mean by that?" Desirée asked with more than a bit of an
attitude. "They have the artifact, they can recharge the Emerald. Isn't that
how it goes?"
"Normally it would be," James said, uncrossing his arms and turning to
face them. "However, since the Lightning Emerald was already partially
charged with the Power Stone fragment, no other magic can be used to recharge
it. In fact, if it were tried, there would probably be rather 'shocking'
repercussions."
Juice ran over and grabbed James by the front of his robe, slamming him
back against the wall. "And just when were you going to tell us this?" he
demanded.
"When you asked," James said sternly. "Now I suggest you let me go
before I call for a violation of the Covenant."
"You are not a Holy One yet," Darrin said softly, his hand straying to
the hilt of his sword. "And neither is Angela. Therefore, without your
parents here, there is no violation."
"Don't bother yourselves, guys," Lissette said as she walked toward
them. "He's not worth it and you know it."
"I don't need your help," James growled as Juice let him go.
"And what makes you think I was here to help you?" Lissette asked with
a superior smirk. "The simple fact is, I didn't want them dirtying their
hands with your blood. After all, your blood isn't worthy enough to be on
their hands."
"Why you insufferable little--"
"There's only one thing little around here shorty, and it isn't me."
By this time, James was as red as his father and shaking with rage.
"Goodbye!" he yelled, disappearing in an angry flash of light.
"And good riddance," Lissette muttered. Then she sighed and adjusted
her ponytail. "If you'll all excuse me," she said to the Chosen Ones, "I'll
be returning to work. Somehow I feel much calmer than I did when I got here."
The Chosen Ones watched her go with similar expressions of surprise and
confusion. "What just happened here?" Juice asked, completely bewildered.
"I really don't want to know," Alicia said. "Come on guys, let's go get
some rest." As they headed down the hallway that led to the private quarters
wing of the palace, they happened to come upon the Prower family. "Aunt
Sondra!" Alicia called, waving.
"Ssh!" Sondra hissed at her. "They're sleeping."
"Everything all right?" Alicia asked, her own tiredness forgotten in
her worry for her cousins.
"Let us get them to bed first," Tails said. "I promise we'll explain
everything then. And I do mean everything."
"While we do this," Sondra said, shifting M3 into one arm and reaching
into her pocket with her free hand, "take this to Sanctuary," she told Angela,
handing her a small crystal.
"What is it?" she asked, peering at the ghostly figure trapped within.
"Your father will know what to do with it," Sondra said, walking away.
"Just tell him that it's the Void in there."
Far away from the palace, the dark castle reverberated with a scream of
pain and frustration. For the third time since they'd been back, Krella had
tried to finish charging the Emerald with the Lightning Rod. And for the
third time, the magic had surged back into her, shocking her badly. "Why
won't this work?" she yelled, tossing the Rod at the door in anger.
Tanin caught the Rod before it could hit the door and looked at Krella
calmly. "It appears the magics cannot be combined," he said, holding the Rod
up so that he could look at it.
"I think I figured that out," Krella said, her voice dripping with
sarcasm. "So what do we do now? Father will not be pleased to learn this."
"Well, the Rod is fairly useless to us at the moment."
"Too bad we didn't know that before we risked our lives in that
deathtrap. Can we let the Emerald uncharge and then use the Rod to recharge
it?"
"We could," Tanin said slowly, "but it would take over five years to
completely uncharge. But it would only take a week to uncharge enough to make
the other half of the Power Stone useless to us."
Krella shook her head angrily and pulled a book from the table. "Just
leave me alone," she said, burying her face in the book.
"Krella...."
"Go!"
"Very well," Tanin said, walking toward the door. "I will explain the
situation to Father the best I can." The rest of the day was spent primarily
with explanations being given. Some were well received, others not so.
The next morning, Sarah woke up with the morning sun. "Was it all a
dream?" she thought, sitting up in bed and lifting her hand to her face. She
slipped out of bed and walked to her mirror. "It wasn't," she realized as she
stared at her reflection. Gone was the young girl that she had seen in there
just the day before. In her place was a young woman in body and mind, but
still a child in her heart. If she looked hard enough, she could still see
glimpses of the old Sarah in her crystal blue eyes.
"No one to blame but myself," she realized, turning away from her mirror
to get dressed. But she found the none of her old outfits fit her. "Well,
I'm not going out there in just my nightgown," she thought, not even bothering
to wonder how she'd gotten in her nightgown to begin with.
She looked around for something she could wear, anything, when she
noticed a set of clothes on her chair. She walked over and picked them up.
"It looks like one of Mom's outfits," she thought, "but it's kinda small."
Without thinking about it, she tried them on to find that they fit pretty
well, even with a hole for her tails to fit through. She did feel a little
self-conscious with how well the bodysuit clung to her new curves, but there
was nothing to be one about it.
"Mom!" she called, walking into the kitchen area only to find it empty.
"Mom? Dad?" she called, searching through the rooms for her family. "M3?
Where is everyone?"
She left the rooms and flew out into the palace hallway, only to find
them deserted as well. "Hello?" she yelled, starting to get worried.
"What's going on here!" Panic began to set in until she passed by one of the
ballrooms and heard some noise inside. "Hello?" she asked again, pulling one
of the doors open.
All noise inside immediately ceased once the door opened, and Sarah
could see nothing inside the darkened room. "Anyone?" Sarah called softly,
inching forward into the room.
"SURPRISE!"
Sarah fell back against the door as the lights came on and it seemed
like every animal in the palace was there yelling at her. "What the...?"
Sally chuckled as she walked forward, wrapping the young girl up in a
warm hug. "Happy Birthday Sarah," she said, giving her a quick kiss on the
cheek.
"Birthday?" Sarah asked, confused. "But you didn't have to--?"
"Of course we did," Sonic said, running up behind her and picking her up
on his shoulders. "I mean come on, it's not every day that our niece turns
ten, is it?"
"But that's what I mean," Sarah protested. "I know it's not that
important with everything else going on--"
"Do not even think of finishing that," Antoine said as he and Bunnie
made an honor guard to escort her and Sonic around the room. "We are never so
busy as to forget those important to us."
"Exactly sugah," Bunnie said, patting Sarah's knee. "Things like this
are what keeps us grounded. I mean, what's so good about saving the world if
we forget who we're fighting for."
"But my birthday was yesterday!"
All the revelry in that room came to an abrupt standstill at Sarah's
words. "What are you talking about?" Sondra asked, hurrying over. "Today's
your birthday; we've been planning this for weeks!"
"But I was so sure that it was yesterday," Sarah said. "My birthday's
the ninth, right?"
"It is, and today's the ninth."
Sondra sighed as some things fell into place. "Is that why you were so
upset at us yesterday, because you thought we forgot?" Sarah didn't answer,
but her blush was answer enough. "I'm sorry Sarah. If I'd just taken the
time to listen to you instead of lashing out at you, none of this would've
happened."
"It's my fault too Mom. I was so wrapped up in myself, I wasn't even
thinking of anyone else."
"We'll sort blame later," Tails said, taking Sarah from atop Sonic's
shoulders and placing her on his own. "For now, let's just enjoy the party.
Unless you don't want one...?"
"After everything we went through?" Sarah asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, everything we all went through," Alicia said, handing a cup of
fruit punch up to Sarah. "Well, at least now you and your mother have
something else in common now."
"That is true," Sondra said, smiling up at the birthday girl. "We've
both met, and beat, our own private curses."
"The curse of the mother...."
Sondra turned quickly to look at M3. "What did you say?" she asked in
a hushed voice.
"What Amy said that time," M3 said, closing his eyes to remember better.
"'The curse of the mother shall be visited on the daughter.'"
Sondra shook as she too recalled that day. Lily had said that the words
didn't mean anything. But now, she could not be sure. And though the party
around her was in full swing, she could not stop the shudder that ran through
her body that dampened her own spirits. (
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