The Void had torn slightly again. Now that he'd cast the spell, the Void tore only where the one he'd bound to him was. Sure enough, the bound one had gone to Transylvania. They'd renamed his city to Sofia, but that didn't matter. It could be easily changed back when he'd been freed and restarted his reign of terror. Judging by how the landscape had changed, it had been a long time since he'd been sealed in the Void. He watched as the bound one and its traveling companion reached the place that he'd been sealed in, so long ago. By the position of the sun, tomorrow there would be a total eclipse. He smiled in the dim light that came through the hole. The next day was a day of power, a time when the raw magic of the world gathered in certain places, certain natural magical reservoirs. He'd built his castle on one of them. There would be more than enough power to free him tomorrow. Then, the years he'd spent in the Void would doubtlessly catch up with him. Luckily, the bound one was not a creature of magical creation, and could be fed upon. The spell he'd cast wouldn't last after he was free, and it was a very vague spell anyways. The bound one had power that couldn't be stolen, and a strong will. But it wasn't defended against magic, or those like himself. Yes, it was strong. It would be even stronger as his slave. His smile turned malicious, revealing ivory fangs.
"Whoa! I call this room!" Sonic raced into a large, brightly lit room and flung himself on to the first of two king sized beds.
Shadow decided to leave him alone until the massive amount of sugar he'd consumed instead of dinner wore off. He skated through the halls of the castle, looking in every room. In a few hours, he returned to the room Sonic was in.
"We have a problem."
"What?" The sugar had mostly worn off, and Sonic was going into a sugar crash.
"None of the other bedrooms are fit to stand in for a few seconds, much less sleep in." Exploring had used up most of Shadow's energy, and he was as tired as Sonic.
"So you have to stay here, too?"
"Pretty much."
There was a long moment of silence. Crickets chirped outside. Loudly. And they played 'Oh When the Saints' in miniature.
"I won't try anything if you won't."
"Deal." Shadow flopped down on the other bed, falling asleep as soon as he hit the covers.
"You forgot to turn out the light, Shadow." Sonic sighed as his reminder reached deaf ears, got out of bed, and turned out the light himself.
The next day, Sonic woke to find Shadow still sleeping. That was not normal, as he usually woke everyone else up at 5:00 A.M. Sonic glanced at the clock, which he'd leaned against the nightstand, and gasped. It was 9:30. He walked over to the other bed and shook the still black and red form lying on it. Shadow responded by burrowing even deeper into the covers and mumbling something that sounded like, "Go'way an' leemelone."
"Come on, it's after 9:00. Time to get up."
After prying Shadow out of bed with a crowbar he'd mistakenly packed in the snack bag, he guided the more than half asleep hedgehog to the kitchen. Once they were there, Sonic poured both of them bowls of cereal and cold milk. Shadow couldn't resist the temptation to just fall asleep again, and his face fell directly into the bowl. That alone didn't succeed in waking him up, but Sonic's laughter did. After he'd successfully clawed the cereal grains out of his nose and chased the other hedgehog around the kitchen a few times, Shadow finally settled down for breakfast.
"Why were you so tired? You're usually up at dawn, and you drag the rest of us up with you," Sonic said around his mouthful of cereal.
"I don't know. I just couldn't seem to wake up." Shadow looked at his spoonful of cereal doubtfully.
"Shadow, stop playing with the cereal and eat it," Sonic commanded.
"Who are you, my mother?"
"No, for that to be possible I'd have to be a test tube."
"Whatever."
"You're not trying to be witty today. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I think."
The Void tore open before his eyes, showing him the bound one and its companion at the breakfast table. Soon, he'd be able to make up for the meals he'd missed while he'd been trapped. The eclipse would happen at exactly 12:00. It was time to move his pawn into position. Soon, he would be free to wreak havoc in the unsuspecting world. Before the Void closed again, he activated the first stage of the spell. The hole closed, and nothing remained.
Short chapter this time, but only 'cause I wanted to wait for the big reveal-thingy. Revealing. Whatever. Anyways, first in-story comment! Yay!
