Chapter 3: Ghosts of our Past
She just collapsed. Right there in the hallway. At first I thought she was exhausted from Jenn keeping us up night after night, but when I went over, there was no pulse. I couldn't believe it. I felt the tears roll down my face as I held her dead body in my arms. I pressed my forehead against hers and cried softly.
"Rouge…" I cried "Why? Who would do this to you?!" After a while and picked her up and lied her on my bed. I sat at the foot of the bed and tried to calm down. This was the second lover I'd lost. I wiped away my tears and looked at her again.
"Looks like that little brat knows how to use her Death Note" Mephiles suggested. I looked back at him.
"You think she did this?" I asked. He looked over at me.
"She's just a kid and she just got pulled away from you, her Shinigami probably told it would be a good idea" he explained. I nodded. It made sense. I swallowed hard and got up. There was no way I could kill Jenn, but a Shinigami couldn't be killed. I thought long and hard about it, but I got nowhere. I went downstairs and picked up the phone.
After the ambulance came to pick up Rouge's body, I sat down at the table and laid my head down on the table with my arms crossed.
"First Maria… Now Rouge…" I felt another tear roll off my cheek. "Why does everyone I care about end up dead?!" I cried. I felt a hand pant my back. I looked up to see Mephiles looking down at me.
"Don't worry, I'll help you get back at them" he assured me "besides, she's not gone for good yet" he assured me.
"What do you mean?" I asked coldly "Don't you dare start playing with my feelings" I warned.
"Her soul was taken by a death note, so I was able to keep from going too far" he explained "but I don't have the power to return it to her." I put my head back down on the table.
"So she's dead then?" I grumbled.
"Did you forget about your precious Chaos Emeralds?" he grinned "Didn't Elise use them to revive Sonic once before?" he asked. My eyes widened and I looked up at him.
"You're right, all I need are the seven Chaos Emeralds" he announced. I got to my feet and looked up at Mephiles. "How long can you keep her soul?!" I asked.
"As long as I want" he assured me.
"Good, because we're going to get those emeralds; I may not have been able to save Maria, but I'm not going to lose Rouge!" I exclaimed. I rushed to the door, pulling on my shoes and clenched my fists.
"How are you going to find them?" he asked softly. I snickered wiping away the last of my tears.
"By getting the only treasure hunter who came close to Rouge's skill" I assured him "I'm going to find Knuckles!" I stepped outside and looked down at what blocked my path. There, looking up at me innocently was Jenn, her Shinigami standing beside her. She held up a bouquet of flowers to me.
"I came here to apologize for Reala" she told me. I glanced at the red jester and looked back at her coldly.
"Well, if you don't want me to tear your book into pieces, you'll get out of my way" I said coldly. She placed the flowers in my hands and stepped out of my way. I looked at the plants and tossed them, walking past her, without looking at her. I walked down the road until I reached Knuckles' house and banged on his door. The door opened to a black armadillo with a red shell.
"Hey Shadow, what's up?" Mighty asked, grinning "Where's that foxy Rouge of yours?" he chuckled. I gave him a cold glance.
"She died of a heart attack this morning" I told him calmly. His face went blank and he looked at me with pure pity.
"Oh my god… Shadow I'm sorry to hear that" he said, stepping out of the way "come on in, we should tell the others." I walked past him and stepped into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"Hey Shadow" Vector greeted me. Espio, Knuckles, Ray and Charmy sat along the couch beside Vector as Mighty walked into the room. After Mighty explained to them as to what had happened to Rouge, we were interrupted by the door bell. Mighty went to the door. He came back a moment later.
"Knuckles, it's for you" he sighed, taking a seat next to me. Knuckles walked past us to the door.
"That's some pretty grave news" Vector said softly. Espio nodded sympathetically.
"Well, it's not over just yet" I assured them "I'm going to get the seven Chaos Emeralds and use those to bring her back" I explained.
"And what makes you think the emeralds work that way?" Espio asked coldly "I don't remember the emeralds ever being used like that before." He looked past Mighty at Mephiles. We were suddenly interrupted by a huge thud. Mighty and Vector rushed to the door, Charmy, Espio, Ray and I close behind. Knuckles, who was in total shock, was being rocked by Jenn.
"It's okay Knuckles, he won't hurt you" she assured him. I looked up and saw Reala in the doorway snickering.
"Knuckles, what happened?" Vector asked, helping him to his feet.
"That thing…" he murmured, pointing right at Reala. The others looked and then looked back at him.
"Are you feeling alright Knuckle head?" Mighty snickered "I know Jenn's kinda-" his suddenly went wide and he backed up. I looked down and saw Jenn taking her note book from his toe.
After Jenn had tagged everyone with her note book, we moved back to the living room.
"So that book kills people?" Vector asked again, pointing at the book in Jenn's hands.
"Sadly yes…" she muttered.
"Are you sure you can handle that kind of power?" Espio asked from across the room "The ability to kill anyone you've seen and know the name of could be very dangerous."
"I know that, but I made a new friend!" she exclaimed.
"At the cost of one of mine…" I muttered to myself.
"Cool off Shadow" Knuckles said, still trying to calm down "just because Reala knocked off Rouge, doesn't mean you have to take it out on Jenn."
"Ya, and if you'd have gotten Rouge two years ago instead of me, this conversation would be reversed, am I right?" I grumbled. He looked away, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Guys, stop fighting, you're friends!" Jenn pleaded. I got up and looked to the door.
"Well, unless any of you plan on helping find the emeralds, I'm out of here" I said coldly, heading for the door.
"C-c-c-can I help?" Jenn asked shyly.
"You've helped enough already" I replied, heading out the door. I started down the street back towards my house.
"So, where's this treasure hunter?" Mephiles asked.
"He was the echidna who took Jenn's side" I told him softly.
"Oh, well in that case, I guess we'll need a better source, won't we?" he asked. I took a deep breath and nodded.
"Ya and here I thought Knuckles would be the first one jumping into action to save Rouge, but I guess his crush on her died out after two years" I murmured. There was a long pause for a while.
"You feel bad now don't you?" he asked "Knuckles could've found the emeralds without any help and he wouldn't have any problems saving Rouge, but you can't, am I right?" I stopped and looked up at him.
"You can tell all that already?" I asked.
"Well, to be honest, I know a bit more about you then you may be comfortable with, I knew you in a past life that had been erased from history" he explained "Just like the Shinigami King, Ibilis." I continued walking and sighed.
"Well, I guess I should see if James has any ideas before I go as desperate as asking Sonic and Tails for help" I sighed. I started down the road until I got to his house. I saw him sitting on a lawn chair, typing away on his laptop. I walked up to him and paused until he noticed I was there.
"Oh, hey Shadow, what's up?" he asked cheerfully. I took a deep breath and handed him my note book.
"This'll make things easier to understand" I told him coldly. I told him everything that had happened since I had gotten the note book and how he was the only one, other then Rouge, who was now dead, who knew I had a note book.
"So you're trusting me with your secret?" he asked, wiping a tear from his eye. I shrugged.
"It's not much of a secret, I just haven't had a reason to tell anyone else" I admitted. He nodded and got up from his chair.
"Well, if there's any way I can help, let me know" he assured me softly.
"Actually, that's what I came here for" I told him "do you have any way of finding the Chaos Emeralds?" I asked. He thought for a moment. Finally he shook his head.
"No, but I do know where one is" he replied "the jewelry shop in central city has one, it costs a hell of a lot though" he chuckled. I chuckled slightly.
"Oh, I'm sure GUN would lend me the money" I assured him. He laughed slightly, and shook his head at me.
" I guess I know why they call you the ultimate life form" he smirked "or was Rouge the only one who learned the real reason?" he teased. I glared at him, but couldn't help but smirk.
"You coming with me to get the emerald or what?" I grumbled. He shook his head.
"Nah, I got something I need to do today, but I'll go jewelry shopping with you some other day" he joked, heading for his house "good luck!" I shook my head and looked at Mephiles.
"You ready?" I asked him.
"Whenever you are" he replied calmly. I nodded and shut my eyes, picturing Central City and teleported myself to roof of the building where I had originally found the cursed book known as the Death Note.
