Shadow and Sonic agreed to split up for lunch and meet back at the Mystic Ruins train station at two o'clock to head to Tails' house. Sonic stared as Shadow walked away with his earbuds in his ears. "That dream again," he said. Wonder what it was. Sonic shrugged off his curiosity and headed off into the city to grab lunch.
He went to a little hole in the wall restaurant that had the best chili dogs—because of the best chili—in town. Their buns were homemade, their hot dogs cooked on a fiery grill, and their chili... divine. Sonic went there so often the owners of the little place once joked he was their main source of income. He had been the one to get their struggling business off the ground, as he recommended it to anyone he saw that was looking for good food.
"Your usual, Sonic?" the manager asked as he walked in. The green mouse, standing at the counter, had her long hair dyed silver, as that was what was in right now. It was tied back in a tight ponytail, and she wore an apron over her yellow uniform shirt and blue jeans.
"You know it, Lyla." Sonic paid, having memorized the price by now. He stepped back from the counter to let up the person who had come in behind him. As he waited for his food, his thoughts wandered all over the place. What was Tails up to today? Was Amy looking for Sonic (again. As usual.)?
His train of thought was derailed when his order was called. He grabbed the food and walked out; walking and eating would mean going to Tails' faster.
Shadow, meanwhile, had met up with Rouge in the city. As the two walked to a local restaurant, Rouge on and on about some guy she was seeing. Shadow listened, just taking in her words and offering the occasional comment.
"So, Shadow," Rouge said suddenly as they walked into the restaurant, "you got any kind of a love life lately?"
"Stupid question," Shadow answered as they were led to a table. "No, I don't." He sat down.
Rouge sat across from him. "No dates? One night stands? Anything?"
"Nothing at all."
"Can I get you two anything?" the skinny human waiter asked them. He smiled brightly.
"Just water," both of them answered.
"Alright, I'll have that back for you in just a few minutes." Their waiter walked away.
"Nothing at all, huh?" Rouge drummed her fingers on the table. "But why?"
Shadow just ignored her question, picking up his menu. He scanned through it, though he planned on ordering the simple pasta meal he always got here.
The waiter stopped to turn up the stereo on his way back to their table. A piano piece was playing, one that was slow and sweet and almost sad. He brought their glasses of water. "Two waters. Are you two ready to order?"
"Yes." Rouge nodded. "I'll have the caesar salad."
"Chicken alfredo." Shadow handed his menu back, and Rouge did the same.
"Alright, those will be out soon." The waiter took the menu and walked away.
Silence. Shadow looked around the restaurant, noticing how quiet it was. There were only two other tables filled.
"You never answered my question." Rouge leaned forward a bit. "Why don't you go out with people?"
"No interest." Shadow sat back. "That's it."
Rouge just stared at him. Finally, she gave up, letting the matter drop.
When Shadow and Sonic got to Tails' lab after their lunches, they saw Amy was there, sitting away from Tails at a small table. She was shuffling a deck of cards.
"Tarot cards again, Amy?" Sonic grinned when he saw the cards. "Is that a new deck you got?"
Amy set the deck down and looked up. "Yeah. Want me to read for you?"
Shadow watched as Sonic practically bounced over to Amy and sat at one of the two chairs across from her. He followed and sat next to Sonic.
"Shadow, do you know anything about the Tarot?" Amy looked at him as she picked up the deck.
"I've read a bit about it." Shadow saw a card drop from the deck as Amy shuffled.
It was of the major arcana. VI The Lovers. Amy picked the card up and slipped it back into the deck."Have you ever had your cards read before?"
"No. What did that card mean?"
"The Lovers? Depends on the reading." Amy stopped shuffling. "Unless it's given bad aspects by other cards, it stands for ultimate, unbreakable love." Her gaze shifted to Sonic and a smile came to her face.
Sonic lowered his eyes. Knock it off, he thought, but he didn't say anything.
"Hm." Shadow sat back slightly.
Amy held out the deck to him. "I'm going to read for you. Shuffle."
Shadow silently took the cards, and he could immediately feel the soothing energy that resonated from them. "So, what can you tell from these in a reading?"
"Answer a question, reveal the past, tell the future..." Amy watched Shadow.
Shadow began shuffling the deck, his movements slow as he felt every card. Chaos, these feel nice, he thought. Images flickered in his mind. A woman dressed all in white, dancing in spiritual ecstasy. A serious-looking man holding a cup, a sword, a coin, and a wand. A man clad in blue sitting on a throne. A woman in green and violet, holding a coin, a peacock standing behind her. Shadow stopped shuffling. "May I draw a few?"
"Sure, go ahead." Amy nodded, leaning on the table as she watched Shadow.
Sonic watched as Shadow set down the deck. The black hedgehog drew five cards, one at a time, from the top of the deck. He laid them out in a line face down. Sonic rested his chin in his hand. "Flip 'em over."
Shadow shot Sonic a look, but did turn them over. Left to right, they were the Four of Wands, Six of Swords, IV The Emperor, Seven of Swords, and II The High Priestess. His eyes immediately fell on the High Priestess, depicting a woman dressed in white, dancing, clearly enjoying herself against a dark sky.
Amy leaned in more to look at the cards. She was silent for a long time, just staring at them, looking at each one.
Shadow looked at Sonic, raising an eye ridge. Sonic just watched Amy. "So what do they say, Ames?"
"From the cards Shadow pulled," Amy started finally, "it fits with what's been going on lately. We're at peace, haven't heard from Eggman for months." She picked up the Seven of Swords. "But, we do have to keep our guard up, because something bad is brewing behind the scenes." She put it back down. "So we can't just look at the peace. We also have to be prepared and on guard, anticipating." She tapped the High Priestess. "Anything can happen. Eggman could be planning something right under our noses." She scooped up the five cards and slipped them in random places in the deck. "Shuffle again. I'm drawing this time, to read for you."
Shadow took the deck and began to shuffle again. His movements were quicker this time as he got used to the feel of the deck.
"I'm going to pull three cards to reveal something about your past," Amy told him as she watched him. She folded her hands in her lap. "And I want you to tell me how accurate it is."
Sonic watched Shadow's hands, fascinated by the other's fluidity with the deck. Shadow's right hand held the deck, and his left pluck out and moved parts of it. Finally, he cut the deck, piled it back together, and handed it back to Amy. "Alright," Shadow said, "draw."
Amy set the deck down and drew three cards. She set them down and then flipped them over. XXI The World, VII The Chariot, and the Four of Cups. "Infinite opportunity. Victory, triumph. Self-discipline. Inner conflict." That struck a chord with Shadow, and he frowned. More deeply than usual, anyway. "Indifference, apathy."
Sonic looked at Shadow. "Almost sounds like you after you woke up the first time, huh?" He noticed the look of suspicion on Shadow's face.
"And you got all that from three cards." Shadow raised his eyes to look at Amy.
"Yup." Amy nodded. She returned the reading into the deck and shuffled it away. "The cards can tell a lot. And I don't even do reversals."
"Reversals?"
"It's when a card is upside down. It changes the meaning," Sonic chimed in, "basically making it the opposite of the actual meaning of a card."
Two cards fell from the deck. The Two of Cups and the King of Wands. Shadow put a hand on them before Amy could pick them up. "What about these?"
Amy smiled. Her gaze fell on Sonic again. "Well, the Two of Cups has to do with relationships. The Two takes the love energy from the Ace and manifests it into a growing relationship. Depending on the context, that could mean anything from the start of a relationship, to marriage, to children. And then Kings always represent men. A King of Wands is enthusiastic and never wants to sit still. He is always doing something new, and he gets bored easily. But, some Kings of this suit have... egos. Big egos."
Sonic. That sounds like Sonic, Shadow thought as he pulled his hand away. As silly as telling fortunes with cards sounded, the fact that Amy had told Shadow something that felt so personal from just a couple cards had gotten him interested.
"Big egos? What's that supposed to mean, Amy?" Sonic stared at her.
"Oh, nothing." She laughed. "So, Sonic, about your reading. Anything in particular you want to know?"
Sonic hesitated. He took a breath, drumming his fingers on the table. "Well, there's something I've been thinking of doing for a long time, and I want to know whether it's a good idea to do it. Can you answer that without specifics?"
"I'm sure I can." Amy handed the deck to Sonic.
Sonic sat back, crossing his legs as he started shuffling. He swirled his real question in his mind: Should I tell him? He shuffled more slowly than Shadow had, just stewing the question in hopes that he would get a decent answer.
Once he handed the cards back to Amy, she quickly shuffled and cut them, then set the deck down. "I'm going to draw five in a Cross of Truth spread." She then drew. The first card, she placed closest to her. "This is the basis of the situation." The second, she placed above it. "This is your desire." The third was set to the right of the second one. "This is what will help you." The fourth was set left of the second. "This is what will oppose you." The final card was above the second. "And this is the result."
She flipped them over. "In the basis, we have the Devil, number fifteen of the major arcana. Remember that the word Satan means antagonizer. This card could mean letting go of addictions, or breaking out of a toxic situation. But it can also have to do with sexuality and passionate love, as the Devil image is co-opted from a god of sex.
"You desire a relationship, as the Two of Cups reveals. What will help you, the Seven of Wands tells us, is standing up for what you believe in. Sticking with your morals will make you desirable to the person you want. However, the Six of Cups tells us someone from your past will come back, and this could disrupt the growing relationship. This person might try to squeeze themselves in.
"Finally, we have the outcome." Amy smiled, picking up the Ace of Cups. "The Ace of Cups. With everything that has happened so far in this reading, it's safe to say the new beginning it symbolizes is the start of a new relationship with the person you desire. It'll be beautiful. It'll be sweet and passionate and euphoric to know that this person does indeed love you."
Sonic rested his chin in both hands, a big grin on his face as he stared at the cards. "Thanks, Amy. That means a lot to hear."
"So, I don't mean to pry, but, who is the person you're thinking of?" Amy returned the cards to the deck. It's me, it has to be me, she thought, confidence soaring in her as she thought this was finally her time. Finally, finally, Sonic could see how much she-
"Oh, just... just someone." Sonic ran a hand through his quills.
Ouch. Amy's bravado was crushed. "Oh. Well, I hope it works out."
Tails finally spoke up from where he sat at one of the computers. "Sonic, when you're done with Amy and the cards, can you come over here, please?" He didn't look over, he just kept his eyes on the screen.
"Sure thing, buddy."