The young hedgehog gulped nervously as he took in his surroundings. The marvelous marble flooring, the breathtakingly beautiful stained glass windows, the plush carpet that held his eyes captive, and the countless other wonders in the amazingly spacious room. He quickly whirled as a guard spoke to him. "Do you like the carpet? Rumor has it that it's actually the hide of something that the king killed." The hedgehog stared back blankly before his survival instinct kicked in. "The carpet is lovely. Whoever skinned that creature must have great hand eye coordination." The guard looked back and smiled. "Maybe you'll last here after all. I hope you get the job." With that the huge slate colored Echidna walked away. At that exact moment a pair of doors so ornately carved that the young hedgehog had originally assumed they were simply part of the wall swung open. "Silver The Hedgehog step forward." The white hedgehog walked into the interviewing room fighting a growing sense of dread. How had he ever gotten into this mess? He should never have agreed to spy on the new king. As he walked in he quickly scanned this new room and gaped when he realized who was sitting behind the desk. The familiar black hedgehog with the red stripes in his hair and half bent quills. It was none other than Shadow another spy. Shadow looked at Silver with his trademark coldness and treated the interview like he'd never seen Silver before in his whole life. Silver found himself admiring his surroundings more than his so called interviewer...the real gold hand dusted onto the desk, the crystal chandelier infused with Chaos Energy, another oddly smooth carpet.."Silver pay attention." Shadow barked. Silver gulped quickly realizing that he had nearly blown his cover and answered the question that he had nearly missed. "I believe that the new king is loyal to the people and will do whatever it takes to defend them." Silver shuddered inwardly at the rumors he had already heard about Mobius' new lord and cringed at the thought of what he might have to do to avoid blowing his cover. "You're hired." Shadow barked. The guards looked slightly surprised until he added "You won't last long. I doubt the king or his brothers like your looks." Silver frowned in confusion the king had brothers? The guards laughed as they lead him to his bedchamber for the night. "I wonder if they'll make you a feeder or skin you alive?" One of the guards asked him. Silver inwardly hoped neither but knew that his Telekinesis would only provide limited power if the king was half as powerful as the rumors stated he was. He laid in the bed and feel fast asleep as soon as the guards let him promising to himself that he'd explore the room when he awoke in the morning.

Shadow meanwhile was in his room pacing. How could they send an inexperienced rookie like Silver into such a perilous situation? He thought to himself. He's too naive he's going to get us all killed! Shadow could only shake his head. If Silver didn't toughen up he'd never in make it to the king as one of his brothers would kill him first. A slight tapping at his door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Come in." The royal family's newest servant came in afraid to meet his eyes. Shadow immediately felt shame. She must think I'm one of them. "You can come in without fear as I'm not one of the Royal family." "No but you serve them." She said in voice that was scarcely a whisper. "As do you" Shadow stated "but that doesn't mean either of us have to be happy with it." The young lady hedgehog looked up at Shadow. "I'm new here I was just hired what do you think they want of me?" Shadow turned away not willing to answer. "What's your name?" He asked her. "I'm Amy Rose but you may call me Rose for short." Shadow glanced back at her pink fur and green eyes. He shuddered at that thought of what was in store for her. "Well Rose I am incapable of telling you exactly what the Royal family wants. I don't advise them and the easiest way to stay alive is to serve and ask as few questions as possible." Rose turned away "Ok I understand. It's just that I don't have any particular powers other than being very strong." Shadow glanced at her with scarcely disguised pity in his gaze. "Your strength will most certainly be used here." A guard peered through the open door then and told them it was lights out time. Rose said goodbye to Shadow and left for her own room. Shadow laid down looked at the ceiling and sighed. He'd lost so much of himself when he took the job. He couldn't help but feel that he'd loose more of it the next morning. He turned over and activated his chat channel knowing that the other member of his team would be awake. He wasn't wrong. "They got another servant". "Yesss and it is no concern of ours. She isn't going to help us get any closer. She'd only get in the way." Shadow couldn't argue with Mephiles' cold logic but the young hedgehog's innocent gaze haunted him. "Yes of course you're right." Shadow terminated the connection he was the leader of the team and if he decided to help her Mephiles' would have to go along with his orders. He glanced out of the window at the grounds surrounding the palace and couldn't help but notice how many armed guards were marching about. He desperately wished that Silver didn't try anything stupid and that nothing disturbed the rest of the Royal Family so that they would be in a decent mood tomorrow. With that the Ultimate Battle Life Form allowed himself a fitful sleep. Dreading the day to come.

Outside as the moon cast it mystical lunar glow a lone figure meditated on a clifftop underneath it. His thoughts private, his being as peaceful with his surroundings as the rare flowers around him which ironically enough bloomed only at night. A slight breeze whipped off of the ocean below ruffling the ornately woven scarf that he wore around his neck itself embroidered with flowers, and the image of the moon. The pictures stitched into the cloth were so vivid the false moon seemed to glow. He listened to the night sounds as he allowed nature's nighttime music to soothe his soul. The croaking of frogs, chirping of crickets, and cries of bats were so familiar to him he could tell exactly what time it was by their rhythm. Breathing in deeply he enjoyed his solitude and used the peace as an opportunity to reflect as his soft mauve fur rustled ever so softly in the breeze. The breeze carried a slight scent of Mallow Flower as it passed by him. Carrying his flower coated scent through the woodlands beyond. It soothed the forest creatures who knew that the evil one would not harm them while he was near. Out of respect for him night predators refused to hunt in his presence. A songbird injured earlier in the day by some careless hunter dragged itself over to him chirping softly. The purple hedgehog turned and gently scooped the injured bird up then he turned and carried it to his home. As he set it's wing he promised it that even if it was injured to badly to return to the wild he would insure that it never had to suffer the indignities of living in a cage. With that promise he settled down for the night, looking forward to a new day and all of the opportunity that it would bring.