I am glad you all enjoyed my last chapter, and thank you for commenting. I hope you enjoy this one. This is short – I need to go hide from you all. You will be chopping up Celicia by the end of this chapter and nagging me about the next one. Keep it up, it makes me feel appreciated!! I love you all and can't wait to hear your comments! The story gets better and better from here on in!!!♥
Chapter 9
The wind rattled the windowpane on December 23rd – one day after Rouge had nearly beaten the snot out of Sonic when she and Amy had accidentally bumped into him after they had seen a movie. The silence was so awkward that the bat began scolding Sonic the second he turned his back on Amy without saying a word. Amy was in tears when she tried to talk to him, so Rouge stood up for her friend. Sonic never fought back; he was still trying to recover from his fight with Melgildur a few days earlier, but she had beat him to a pulp.
December 23rd – the day before Sonic was to leave for Shia. Of course he wasn't looking forward to it, but we've explained what was going on in his head. Celicia, however, couldn't seem to be patient enough to leave. She was constantly looking at the clock. It was mid afternoon, and she needed to wait, still. When she didn't feel like getting up, Celicia would call to one of her guards to check the time for her. When they insisted that they couldn't make the time go by more quickly like she wanted, she threw her high-heeled boots at them and waited some more.
"I hate waiting…" she muttered.
Normally, in stories such as this, the "bad guy" wasn't always bad. In fact, they might have been good once upon a time. Something might have happened, like the one they loved left them, they were betrayed, or they were jealous and prideful. Then they become what we know as the villains. This story is different. Celicia wasn't good once upon a time. She was never a villain once upon a time. But one thing is for sure, she was sad once upon a time. But that will be explained later on. For now, on with the story.
With a loud sigh, Celicia threw down her journal, too frustrated to write anything about her progress. All she wanted to do was visit Sonic and see how he was doing now; no one was willing to listen to her here anyway. So she pushed herself up off the bed, took her boots back from the knocked out guards on the floor when she threw her shoes at them, and was on her way out the hotel bedroom.
Just one more day…she thought to herself. Celicia buttoned her long, furry coat and mashed her hat down on her head. The snow was coming down, but softly. It covered the ground and the hedgehog knew that nothing would be seen when the sun went down. The snow would be whipping in every direction so you couldn't see a foot in front of you. More of the reason to stay over night at Sonic's…she grinned and quickened her pace. In almost no time, she arrived at an apartment complex. Sonic needed to stay somewhere before he left, so in the meantime, he had a small apartment. It was when he had just unpacked when he needed to pack up again.
Celicia blew on her gloves, stomped her feet, and knocked on the splintered door. Sonic was there in an instant, and looked unhappy, and bored, to see her. Celicia didn't want him to think she was some jerk (he probably thought that already), so she did her best to earn his love. She smiled as sweetly as she could.
"Hello, Sonic," she pulled off her hat and swished her hair around as if she were on a shampoo commercial. Sonic took no notice. Celicia cocked her head and smiled again. "May I come in?"
Sonic seemed to be in another world, but quickly snapped back into reality.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." He opened the door wider so she could step inside. Celicia wrinkled her nose a bit.
"It's so…" she searched for the right word that didn't sound too mean. "…clean."
Sonic let out a bitter laugh. "Not clean – just empty. I still need to pack, and there's not much to pack anyway." He sat down on a chair – there was no couch. He didn't even think of pulling out a chair for Celicia, so she obliged herself and sat down next to him. He would have pulled out a chair if Amy were here, she thought glumly.
There was an awkward silence. Sonic stared down at his shoes; Celicia wrung her hat, and finally blurted, "Sonic! Do you love me?"
Sonic's eyes grew as wide as saucers. He looked up with a strange expression on his face, sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, Celicia. I could never love you when my heart is with someone else."
Celicia lowered her head, stuck out her quavering lover lip, and began to cry. Her sobs shook her whole body, but she couldn't help it. Sonic was taken aback. He gently stroked her hair until she had calmed down a bit, then he continued, "As long as I know Amy, I could never, in all my life, love someone else."
The hedgehog looked up at him with her shimmering green eyes. "No one has ever loved me before. We have to be married by law, and if you don't love me…" and she broke down all over again. Sonic had no idea what to say. To make her feel better, he finally blurted, "I'm sure I will forget Amy once we leave."
That seemed to satisfy Celicia enough, but it made Sonic's chest hurt. For a minute, he thought his back would spaz again, but it didn't. Celicia noticed the worry etched on his face and commented, with a sly smile to herself, "Does your back still hurt you?" With gentle fingers, she traced the outlines of his face as he nodded grimly. She shook her head with fake pity. "What a shame…but you will be cured once we get to Shia."
Sonic's ears perked up high. "There's a cure? But Mel told me that there is none."
Pleased she had gotten his attention, Celicia brightened. "Oh, yes, there is a cure. Actually, I made it myself. I have quite a way with potions. You might even say it's a gift."
Sonic stood up so suddenly his chair toppled backward. "Do you have it with you?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid. The magic I can do is only useable back on a planet whose core is also magical. I know it's foreign and odd to speak of here, but this is why I said you have no choice to leave. If you want to be healed, you must come."
Sonic hung his head sadly and sat back down. Celicia crossed her arms. If only he would stop thinking about that Amy Rose, maybe he would start to warm up to me!
And then, as suddenly as she had appeared on this strange planet, she got an idea. A horrible, gruesome idea. She knew that it would fix her problem and Sonic could be hers. It was horribly brilliant.
Celicia excused herself and stepped outside. She whipped out her cell phone and dialed Amy Rose's number.
Amy picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Amy? It's Celicia," she said, trying to act like a normal person would. Of course, Amy didn't buy it.
"What do you want?" she snapped, an edge to her voice.
Celicia smiled. "I thought we should stop fighting. I know you still hate me, but perhaps we can talk about it. There's more to this story than is being told."
Amy didn't understand very much, and still wanted to stay mad at Celicia, but maybe there was something she wasn't getting? Amy didn't know for sure but, being a curious girl, agreed to meet Celicia. The Shiian girl gave her directions and that they would meet right now.
"We could meet tomorrow morning," Amy suggested. "I hear there's gonna be a really bad blizzard…"
"We have plenty of time," reasoned Celicia. "Just meet me now."
Celicia clapped her phone shut and grinned.
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Amy blew on her mittens as she trekked through the already knee-deep snow. She couldn't believe she was actually meeting Celicia. Amy promised herself not to attack until the opportune moment, that is; if what Celicia was saying was only to taunt her.
Amy had been completely shocked when her phone rang and it was Celicia. Amy was just practicing some Christmas songs on her guitar – she was going to play at the party with or without Sonic – when the girl she detested called and said she wanted to make up. The pink hedgehog just wanted to shove Celicia's blue, perfect curls into the icy snow, but Celicia mentioned that she knew something that Amy didn't. What could it be?
Sonic? If it was and Celicia only wanted to be a jerk and brag about getting the guy, Amy decided to let her have him. Of course she loved Sonic with all her heart and it hurt when she thought about him, but she needed to realize that her life couldn't revolve around Sonic the Hedgehog. There were more important things in and after life that she needed to focus on – it was her life after all. She needed to look to the people who loved and cared about her no mater what, and she knew who they were.
Was it about her? Amy Rose? What would Celicia have to say about her? Amy had no idea what was going on here, but she just knew that it was really cold and she couldn't wait to get back home.
The wind whipped across her face as she drew her collar up higher. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, letting her know what time of the day it was. The orange sun lay deep in the west, casting twisted shadows across Amy's snowy path. But as soon as they were cast, they disappeared as the clouds hid the sun's face and it began to set. The world around her suddenly dropped in temperature, and Amy knew that if she stayed out too long, she would be a popsicle by morning.
The hedgehog pushed past the overhanging branches that whipped and stung against her cheek, leaving a small scratch. She trekked on, pulling her coat tighter around her shivering body.
Finally after she grew terribly cold with the snow seeping into her boots, Amy arrived at the destination Celicia told her about. And, as promised, a dark silhouette of a hedgehog loomed ahead.
Celicia.
Amy took in a breath, and made her way over to the priss, who wore a ground-length fur coat the color of rich, dark chocolate. It looked like a thousand baby wolves had died to make it. Celicia turned to Amy and gestured with her head to come closer. As Amy walked, she sensed that she had been here before. The trees looked vaguely familiar, and so did the ground, if that makes sense. Amy noticed Melgildur, waiting a few feet to Celicia's left, his arms crossed. Not like he was angry, but he looked a bit ashamed. Amy turned from him and stepped beside Celicia.
"I don't have much time," Celicia said impatiently, as if Amy had dragged her all the way out here when night was falling. "Sonic doesn't know where I am, and I need to get back to him."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell him you were meeting me?"
"Of course I told him that," she said. "I just didn't tell him where we were meeting. It would just be too obvious."
"Huh? What do you mean 'obvious'?" asked Melgildur, who, clearly, had as much idea what Celicia was talking about as Amy.
Celicia flicked her wrist as if shooing flies. "You'll find out soon enough."
Amy hugged her shoulders and shivered. "If you don't mind…"
The blue hedgehog nodded with a slight grin. "Of course."
Celicia took Amy by the arm and led her a few feet. Amy couldn't see an inch in front of her face; the snow was so thick and white. Celicia began to speak.
"I know you love Sonic," she started. "But you must realize that he no longer wants you in his life. He can't stop thinking about you, even though he wants to let you go."
Amy was confused. So…he wants to leave, I know, he sent me a letter about how he felt. But he can't stop thinking about me…does that mean anything?
΅΅΅
Melgildur tried to sense what Celicia was thinking while she talked to Amy, but Celicia must have put a magical barrier around her mind somehow – she had always had a way with spells and potions. Though he didn't know exactly what she was thinking, he sensed she was going to do something, but what…?
Celicia continued to speak to Amy, when finally, she grinned down at Amy in a way that made both Amy and Mel shiver. "So, you see, if you are out of his life, it would be much easier for him to live."
Something made Mel's heart skip. Something was coming…
Amy looked up at Celicia with a confused expression on her face. "…what are you saying…?"
Then, Celicia bent down so only Amy could hear, but Mel picked it up:
"Without you alive, he is mine!"
Celicia shoved Amy down in front of her, but instead of landing on the ground, Amy slid on a vertical hill that she obviously hadn't seen. Melgildur was there in an instant.
"Nooooooo!!" He reached out as fast as he could to grasp her hand, but Amy was already sliding down the hill, red dragging behind her. Then, she vanished in a cloud of white. One scream was heard, but then silence.
Mel didn't know how long he sat there with an outstretched hand yelling, but when all was silent again, he stood up slowly and turned to his mistress.
She was already gone.
In his rage, Mel tore at his jacket and punched the icy trunks of trees. He screamed and pulled at his quills, tears streaming down his face. His first thought was to throw himself down the blue ice and rescue his friend. But then his more sensible side told him that no, it was too dangerous and no one could stay on their feet. The last thing Mel remembered before she was gone was that frozen look of pure terror etched across her face. In that instant, he knew what he needed to do.
He sped off out of the woods as fast as his legs would carry him.
Hang on, Amy, he thought. Hang on.
΅΅΅
Amy's foot slipped under Celicia's pressure and she found herself sliding almost vertically down a hill of blue ice. She looked up to see Melgildur's hand reaching towards her, but he was soon consumed by the snow.
Amy screamed as she felt a hot razor rip the fur and flesh of her thigh. She gained momentum, unable to slow herself down. Her agonizing cries could be heard for miles. The icicles were sticking up out of the ice and snow like swords, and she was running over them as fast as Sonic at the Olympics. Her flesh was torn open on her arms, legs, chest and back. She could barely muster a whisper anymore; her back had landed on an especially sharp rock, and all Amy could do was scrunch up her face. She saw the trail of blood she was leaving, and wondered if she would ever make it to the bottom. Suddenly, she became airborne for a split second for going off an icy ramp. Amy had found her voice and had let out a painful screech. The hedgehog had landed on her face, the sharp edges of the rock she hit glistening with bright red in the dark. The rock seemed to have ripped off half of her face; or so it felt.
Then, it was all calm.
Amy gasped for breath as she lay in the now feathery snow, finally reaching the bottom. She could no longer feel her entire body; it was as if it was too raw to feel anymore. Amy took a final breath and whispered with the taste of blood in her mouth, "Sonic…"
Then it all went black.
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