Here's Chapter 2. I posted this so close to the first chapter because I apparently don't know the meaning of 'waiting patiently for the suspense to set in'. Still, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them! Or you could just wait and see where this fanfiction will lead you~!
And again, the disclaimer from Chapter 1 still counts (I seriously don't know whether it is a good thing to add disclaimer to each and every chapter, since most author notes get ignored either way...).
Hope you enjoy this!
Chapter 2
"Hey! He's here! Everyone, Chris is here!"
The traveler laughed as he waved back at the group of mobians running towards him, inwardly frowning sadly at the sight of the ragged clothes they were wearing and making a note to bring some warm clothes of his for them next time. Some of the faster mobians managed to reach him first and tackled him in a hug. "Chris! Chris! We missed you!" they cheered.
"Are you sure it is me you miss? Or is it these you miss?" Chris asked teasingly as he reached into his travel bag and brought out a large box. The young mobians cheered louder as they quickly grabbed the box and almost tore through its contents.
"You brought chocolate chip this time!" a young cat exclaimed in joy as she grabbed a handful of the faintly-warm cookies.
"There's also chocolate mint!" "Ah, let me have some too!" "Chris, thanks a lot!" "Yeah, these cookies are so good!"
Chris smiled at all the exclamations of delight and gratitude, content to be helping this little ragtag of mobians. While they were busy eating, he quietly counted the kids, taking note of who needed clothes the most and making sure all the kids were there. The last time someone went missing three months ago...
His eyebrows furrowed in worry when he noticed one kid was missing. He looked back at the group; he could have missed the mobian since everyone was running around. When that gave him the same results as before, he looked around, panic starting to form in the pit of his stomach when he couldn't find a glimpse of the reddish-brown fur anywhere in his surroundings.
'Maybe he didn't come? It has to be that, right?! He hadn't gone missing again...right?!'
"Guys...where's Riley?" he asked, his voice almost reaching its childhood high pitch in panic.
One of the older kids paused at that. The Chinese Crested dog mobian quickly gobbled up his cookie before turning to Chris. "He went out just a little while ago. He said he had something to take care of," he told the human, before noticing the still-worried look on his face. "Don't worry, Chris. He does this frequently and he's always back in two hours or so."
"He does this frequently?!"
"But he's alright!" the dog mobian groaned, feeling slightly exasperated from the human's concern. "He disappears for two hours, give or take, and comes back as if he hadn't even disappeared in the first place. He isn't injured or anything either. So stop worrying about him, Chris. He's almost thirteen either way. He can take care of himself."
Chris sighed. "Either way, I'm worried... Mature or not, he's still a kid. Thirteen years is still pretty young for us humans," he explained. "So I can't help it, Cody." When the box of cookies was gone, Chris brought out another box, this time with some water bottles and some leftovers from lunch. "I'll go and get the message delivered. I'll come check up on the shack afterwards, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Cody said with a resigned eye roll to Chris' mother-hen tendencies. The other mobians noticed Chris leaving and gathered around him with hugs. "We'll see you back at the shack, Chris!" a younger mobian shouted as Chris headed off for the village leader.
"Mr. Stone? May I come in?"
The man looked up from his desk where he had been going through some reports. The angry frown on his face faded slightly when he noticed the nervous messenger peeking inside the room. "Ah, Chris, of course. Another message from the king, I assume?"
"...Sort of," Chris replied, stepping inside the room and reaching into his bag to bring out an envelope. Mr. Stone's gaze narrowed thoughtfully before he noticed the reason behind Chris' vague answer.
Stamped on the creamy-white envelope were two symbols. Both were familiar (after all, one would have to be a fool or living under a rock not to know the crest of royalty), but one of them was so unexpected that if it were not for Mr. Stone's glasses, his surprise would have been clear to see by all. "What does that madman want to say that the king himself actually allowed it?" he asked, trying to keep his tone and level while all but literally pointing at the symbol in accusation.
Chris picked up on the undertones and waved his hands while shaking his head. "I have no idea...but the king seems really...pensive when he gave me this message. He also told me to deliver the same message to the other towns and villages, including the mobian settlements. Whatever it is..."
The pause (and the unsaid words that pause implied) did not go unnoticed though. It was obvious; this was something big. Mr. Stone couldn't think of returning to his reports with this kind of message lying right in front of him.
Without even thinking of dismissing Chris, he reached for a letter opener. The letter inside was thick, though Mr. Stone suspected it was more because of the parchment itself rather than its contents.
Carefully pulling it out, he flipped the half-folded letter open and started soundlessly reading through the letter.
'Dear Mr. Stone,
This is a letter from both your king and the esteemed (Mr. Stone snorted at that description; that madman was anything but an esteemed individual) Doctor Eggman. The good doctor would like to invite you and everyone living in your village to an event taking place at Emerald Bay. We have high hopes that you will be able to attend. Escorts and transportation will be provided, so have no worries ('No worries? High hopes? Escorts and transport? You are all but telling us outright to come without protest,' Mr. Stone thought, gritting his teeth and clenching the letter in his hands just a tad tighter). The details are listed below. We hope to see you at the event.
Venue: The Royal Villa, Emerald Bay
*Note: Accommodations will be provided and there is no need to bring anything.
Date: March 19, XXXX
*The event will be held on March 20 at night, but please arrive a day early.
With regards,
King Michael Renacido, Doctor Eggman'
"It appears that everything is in order..."
Gold eyes took in the mystical glow of the object before him before scanning the small mist-laden cave. Just like the mist-bound mountain it resided in, the cave was silent, as if devoid of life...
Well, in one way, it was true.
"Has there been any spirits attempting to reside here?"
There was a clattering sound, as if bones knocking together. But the sound wasn't as random as that (if he just tilted his head slightly and listened carefully with his left ear, he could faintly hear a pattern...), and it seemed that he understood it.
"No? Good. What about newly-born spirits?"
The same sound came in reply.
"Excellent. Keep an eye out for mortals as well; we cannot let them discover this..." Those gold eyes turned back to the object. "Even should it not respond to others as long as I live, we cannot take any risk... It should just fade into the legends..."
There were more clattering sounds, followed by the clack of numerous claws hitting the stone-covered ground, the sounds too much of a cacophony to have a recognizable rhythm. Spots of red lights (in pairs, watching as if they were eyes) peered out from the dark of the cave. Despite no verbal words being shared between the spots and him, he still sighed in defeat, having already came to the conclusion without being needed to be told.
"Right...with the nature of this relic, that is an impossible wish... At least, I can make it so that only the guardian knows of its existence...just as I have been doing it for the past three centuries, ever since your first master died."
He slumped onto the ground, putting a hand to his forehead and sighing deeply. An ordinary person wouldn't remember the events that took place long ago, but he had long lost his mortality. He was anything but ordinary, and sometimes, on days like this (close to the equinox, he had a feeling it will take place then...), he fell back into the past, remembering every event...every bit of it all.
"How long must we suffer, guarding this relic without rest? You all are meant to be resting in the earth, yet here you are, kept alive by the duty you did not desire in the first place, just as I am here, suffering the same fate as you to never rest in peace...being forced to depend on others and taking away their lives..."
The red spots seemed to glow in sympathy. He smiled at that, both to reassure them and himself.
"It is alright...maybe one day, we can find a way to free ourselves from this cycling curse."
His eyes drifted back to the object. He held no hate for the object. He already had his temper tantrum during the first century, and now, hate just seemed to be a heavy burden he did not want to add to the already-heavy weight of being this object's guardian. Taking one last scan of his surroundings, he was almost done with his job.
Almost, because he had one more thing left to take care of.
His hand took the object, receiving a brighter glow in response to his touch. The best hiding place was in plain sight, and with that in mind, he closed his eyes and let the thought take a form. He didn't have a solid idea though; he just let the thought shape itself.
When he opened his eyes, the object was gone.
Satisfied with the results, he left the cave. Behind him, large reptilian skeletons (the bones a dried out white, outlined by a red glow, their skulls filled with a red light that shone through their eyeholes) chattered and rattled, gathering over the opening and piling up on top of each other. Then, they lost their red glow and white darkened to the grey of the mountain's stone, sealing the cave.
And just like that, the gold-eyed being was gone as well, disappearing into the mist.
"Riley! There you are!"
The Red Dog mobian yelped in surprise as he was tackled by a smaller American Shorthair cat mobian. He nearly fell back from the force, but steadied himself by regaining his footing and took a moment to breathe before turning his attention to the cat clinging to his waist. As if sensing the attention, the feline looked up with a pout, wide kitten-blue eyes staring into his brown. "Why do you always have to disappear somewhere?"
Riley shrugged. "Just felt like it, I guess," was his vague reply. Truthfully, he had no idea where the urge came from either, but since it never really caused him any harm, he just let it be, like it was another fact of the universe.
"Riley, you're back."
The red dog looked up at the familiar voice and spotted Cody walking out of the rickety shack he and a group of around twelve mobians called home. Riley gave him a nod to acknowledge his greeting while returning the cat's hug with a pat; both as an affectionate gesture and a sign for the mobian to let go. "Faline, time to let me go," Riley added when the pat received no response.
"Are you going to disappear again?"
"I'll always come back Faline," Riley sighed, though he didn't exactly say he was going to stop disappearing. Faline didn't notice it though. Satisfied by the answer, she let go.
"Come on! It's almost dinner time! Chris came by a few minutes ago to check up on the shack; he just missed you! He's worried about you as well, but Cody told him that you'll be fine! Of course, I agree with Chris, but it's good that you're alright. Oh, and Chris got us some leftovers for today as well! Think we can heat them up and eat them like last time?" Faline babbled as she headed inside the shack, followed by the two older mobians.
Cody rolled his eyes and argued back with Faline on how it wasn't entirely healthy to keep eating leftovers the way they were doing while Riley trailed a bit further back, watching the two's argument with fond eyes.
Just another day that was in their lives...oblivious to the fact that things were about to change...
"Shaman."
The orange-furred echidna did not react to the call, eyes glazed over as they stared deeply into the glowing green emerald. Her face was pale under her fur, sweat gathering at her brow and her hands faintly trembling. The mountain spirit grunted and resorted to using a bit of his power so that he could physically pull the echidna away from the gem.
"Shaman," he repeated. This time, without the emerald, she started slowly coming back to the conscious world. Blue eyes blinked, lingering violet flecks slowly disappearing with the glaze in her eyes. They took in the mountain spirit, able to see his elemental form's Chaos Energy.
"...Mountain?"
"Take it easy. You have been deep-gazing the Master Emerald for three hours straight already..."
"Mountain... I know where the seven Chaos Emeralds are." The mountain spirit stood still at that, though the shaman couldn't see it in his elemental form. "The Master Emerald told me...to bring them to the Chaos Festival. The Chaos Gods...they will gather at this Festival, more than ever."
"What are they up to now?" the mountain growled. "They have not been as active as before. And suddenly, here they are again...and what is much more concerning is the fact that they have not even caused a single bit of trouble! Why are they gathering?"
"That I do not know..." the shaman sighed, slumping against the chamber's wall. "The Master Emerald merely tells me the what. It does not tell me the why... Mountain, the Chaos Emeralds... While they do not have a wielder, they are surprisingly gathered at the same place."
The mountain dare not ask how the situation could get any worse. A Chaos Emerald, alone by itself, had the penchant to be found. To have all seven of them in one place... It was a situation that would spell trouble should any Chaos adept mortal or a particularly mischievous Chaos God stumbled upon them. "Where are they?" he asked, pushing the questions about Chaos Gods away for the moment to tackle the more serious case.
"Green Hill."
DR. GERALD'S JOURNAL OF THE SUPERNATURAL - A STUDY
ENTRY 2: GODS, PART 1
DATE OF ENTRY: 12th September, XXXX
INTRODUCTION
Gods are, in scientific terms, spirits that are much more ancient and powerful, having been born with the planet itself and, as they are based off energies, immortal. So far, I have only heard of the most commonly known Gods, Chaos and beings referred to as Chaos Gods (See ENTRY 3: CHAOS GODS).
CHAOS (DATE OF ENTRY: 18th September, XXXX)
Chaos is the God of Chaos Energy, an energy that is akin to a network connecting our planet together (See later ENTRY for more information). Among the myths the spirits spoke of, and are willing to share with me, Chaos was born from the Chaos Energy used to create an object of immense power (though they are very reluctant to share with me what this object is), and is designated as the object's Guardian. Other myths spoke of Chaos' affinity for water (See later ENTRY on AFFINITIES) and his charges (creatures called Chao), but so far, I have not yet discovered what Chaos' appearance and abilities are. Even the spirits seem to be in the dark. However, there have been whispers of an event that is related to Chaos. Further research (and prodding of rather unwilling spirits) is required.
END OF ENTRY