"Daddy! Please wake up! I don't want you to die! Never!"
He woke up. As his eyes adjusted, he could see Jr. looming over him, with little tears in his eyes. Dawn was busy, wringing a cloth over the sink. He knew he was still inside the ship, but he didn't know what happened. He didn't even know he fainted. Dawn strolled towards him, with the wet cloth in her hand.
"This is good. Sonic's up. How are you feeling?"
"I feel like...that something is pushing against my head and it's going to burst...what happened back there?"
"Oh, what happened..." She blushed. "You remember that No Name just attacked our ship, right?"
The memory resurfaced. Yes, the raven. He remembered being frozen in fear when he saw it. And then...blackness. He nodded.
"Well, you were...really terrified of No Name or something...you stood there, shaking all over, and then...you dropped to the floor. We then took you in here."
"Are we in Love now? As far as I can remember, we took some pretty heavy damage back there."
"Yes, you're right. We are in Love. I had to stop here because of what No Name did to the ship. It will...take a while before morning can come back here..."
Sonic took a look at the window. It was now night. Although it was dark, he could see the blue moon being reflected in the distance. And a few yellow lights. He suddenly heard something knock on the door of the ship. Dawn at once picked up the sound and ambulated towards and answered it. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Actually, it would be more like what I can do to help you. I heard a crash and I thought someone was hurt..."
Sonic craned himself to see the visitor. She was an old human, with large thick glasses, wearing floral patterns on her shirt. She was holding a first-aid kit.
"Well...one of the passengers on the boat fainted, but he's fine now. I'm actually quite amazed that we ended up unhurt from the crash," she replied to her, the old woman wearing a surprised expression on her face.
"Oh dear! Fainted? Where is he?"
"Well, it's not like he fainted on the crash or anything..." she tried to reassure her, as the lady marched to Sonic and Jr.
"Oh, aren't you a darling? I don't think you were the one who fainted, as you seem quite lively..." she said to Jr. as she pinched his cheeks. He groaned and pointed to his father, she stopping his embarrassment. "So you were the one who..."
"Lady, I'm fine. I really don't need your..." Sonic was cut off from the lady shoving a thermometer in his mouth and an ice pack on his head. "Just sit for a while as I take your temperature. The bump in the head might've made you delusional."
"No, really, he's fine. Thanks for helping us out, but really, we don't need it right now..." Dawn mumbled as she found out the old lady was ignoring her. Jr. also was silent, thinking that she would close him out.
She soon yanked the thermometer from his mouth. "98.6...Well, I guess he is fine. So says the thermometer, anyways...I'll be leaving. If any of you need help or anything, you can just come back to my place. It's not too far away from here." She shook her head slowly, then departed for the door. All of them did not say a word until she left.
"Man, what was that all about? Isn't it because this place..."
"Yes. Love is a very strange place, Sonic. Expect to see that more often..."
Sonic rose and unfurled his map. He could see a white glowing light in the right corner of the continent. He could also see the words, "Crystal Forest" illuminate from his map. There was another place, called The Heart Temple. He knew that this was where he needed to go to next.
"I would like to stay and chat, but I got a few places to go to. We'll see you later, Dawn."
"I'll tell you when the ship is fixed...which will take a while...so you better occupy yourselves for a while..."
Sonic nodded, Jr. following along. They went out the door, leaving Dawn in the darkness.
Sonic could not see what the land really looked like, due to the dark. The only thing he could catch was the ground was a very bright pink, from what he could see from the lamps. If it wasn't for the lamps that were scattered all over the land and the townsfolk bringing lanterns with them, he wouldn't be able to pick up anything. Luckily they were lighting his path to his next destination. The road ahead of him swiveled to a hill far away from them, which according to the map led to the Temple.
Jr. glimpsed at the air around him, tiny yellow sparks of light catching his attention. He attempted to grab them; the sparks being too swift for his hands. Many of them whirled and flew away, creating an oval around the path. They began to walk on it, the lights beckoning them to move further. Sonic's feet stopped, however, when he saw someone approach him.
"Hello...you are Sonic the hedgehog, are you not?" The voice was smooth, reassuring, and seemed to belong to a woman. As Sonic tried to look beyond the darkness, he saw a smirking face smeared with red lipstick, white teeth sparkling in the night. He could also catch sight of her eyes, which were a deep royal blue. Otherwise, not much else. Every other part of her was sucked into the blackness.
"Yeah...I'm Sonic. What do you..."
"Oh, aren't you a sexy one? No one ever told me...err, I mean...what are you doing around these parts, you hunk of a hog?"
"Dad..." Jr. mumbled. "This one is...not good."
He glared at the woman, who appeared to him under the lamp. She was also a hedgehog, light blue, with a tuft of blond hair on her head. She was wearing a black dress, with high black stiletto heels. She continued to grin, despite her cover being blown.
"Oh...I'm sorry that brat is with you, or else I could've tricked you and we could've lived a happy life together. Forget about your soul, you can just live with me for eternity. Whether you like it or not, that is what's going to happen!" Sonic quickly dodged both of her kicks. He rotated and attacked her directly in the chest, knocking her backwards, but she was still standing.
Sonic ran to her in a flash, ready to punch her. She gripped his fist, and arched his arm upwards, him flinching in pain. Jr., however, charged towards her in the back, making her fall to the ground with Sonic.
She was on top of him, and he tried to kick her off, but she seemed to staple his feet to the earth. He realized that her fingers transformed to claws that seemed to weigh a hundred pounds each. He could not move his arms. He could only squirm as she beamed at him, staring into his eyes.
"You know...if I trap your little brat, I could make it so you forget about your journey and live with me forever...come on, just think about it..." Her claws dug deeper into his arms. "Being happy for the rest of your life...no longer having any worries...catering to me at my whim...it's a good life..."
"No! I'm not planning on living with you or staying here! All I want is to get my soul back so I can get back to my life!" he barked.
"Really? Well, you have no other choice!" she screeched, as the bottom half of her body transformed to a serpent's tail, constructed out of stone. Her tail gripped around Jr. tightly, who was just planning another assault. She began to squeeze, Jr. crying as he struggled to get out.
"Well, look at that. You have no where else to go. The only thing you can do now is receive a kiss from me...or else the child gets it!" She jostled him a little further, nearly crushing his lungs.
Why was she threatening him that she would crush his child? He obviously didn't had much of a choice. He did not want to surrender, but yet it was like she chose his fate for him. She prepared to kiss him, her leaning closer to him. He tried to push her off of him, but the claws were stiff and strong. It was until her rocky serpent tail grew another tail and began to wrap itself around him. There was no escape. Her lips tasted his. He closed his eyes, as he began to struggle.
A scream. He unveiled his eyes to see that a sword was stuck in her back. Black blood began to spray from her, her still smiling as she saw the perpetrator.
Sonic couldn't see the backstabber, as he was covered in the darkness, but he could see a gem gleam from the distance. The snake tail grew yet another limb and it lunged towards the swordsman. With a silver spark of light, the tail was lopped off, the woman once again lamenting in hurt.
"So you got another friend? Well, I'm not going to be playing anymore! Enough with this!"
Sonic grimaced as the young face suddenly morphed into one that belonged to an old woman with no eyes and maggots devouring her face. Her neck grew longer, and her body became more elongated. Sonic was freed, stepping back to see that she has grown even larger. Jr. was still trapped within the tail, until the swordsman also sliced it off, letting him go. The tail instantaneously grew back, it moving like a freight towards them.
The child leaped on the tail, darting towards the neck. Her head u-turned, her empty mouth blasting fire into his vicinity.
He was stuck in an endless loop. Chopping tail after tail was growing old for him. It was then that the swordsman began to speak. "Catch the sword! Go for her stomach! Hurry!"
He tossed the sword towards Sonic on the ground, the tails immediately blitzing towards her.
The tails were severed, they landing on the ground and rotting in dissolving black sludge. The flames were then deflected away from Jr. He knew who this was. His father. Sonic glanced back at him, as the sword was turning crimson and was quivering from the force. The maggoted face halted the stream, then sprightly smashed her empty mouth into Sonic, capturing him with her mouth and swallowing him. Jr. and the swordsman could see Sonic going down her esophagus.
"She...ate him! Dad!" Jr. cried, rushing towards her throat and punching and kicking it. It was too thick to do any damage. She only laughed as her tails once again grabbed a hold of the swordsman and Jr.
"Why...what a special treat! I can eat both of you, like I did to your dear daddy! I did want him to live eternally with me, but I guess him being digested is close enough!" she sneered to Jr., him growling in return.
"My dad is still alive! You didn't chew your food while he had the sword, right?"
A pause. Her last words were, "Oh, dear".
Her stomach was split open as Sonic sliced through her body, him covered with black blood. She could only gargle loudly as the blood dripped from her mouth. Her head and neck fell to the earth with a loud thud.
Her body shone luminously thereafter, many yellow sparks replacing the blood and the decaying body. They surged upward, disappearing into the sky.
She was gone.
"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you, Sonic! I'm quite impressed!" As the swordsman got closer to the light, he could see who it was now. The woman who was originally indifferent about him. Eve. She smiled a little as she saw Jr. hurrying to his father, hugging him.
"Dad! I knew you would make it through...even though I thought you were weird lady food for a while..."
Sonic could only chuckle, but his laughter was stopped short by suddenly recognizing that Eve said the words, "I'm quite impressed".
"Umm...I mean, you couldn't have done it without my sword! If you didn't had it, we would all be meals to that ugly thing!" She snatched her sword from Sonic and returned it to its sheath.
Sonic also smirked a bit. "Well, why don't you just say you're impressed with me? There's no use hiding it."
"Well, to be truthful with you, if it wasn't for me saving your butts, you would be goners. The only reason why I came here was because my sister said you could use my help. This road is going to be more dangerous from now on, because that monster you faced was no pushover."
"Who was that monster anyways? Was she a part of the Disorders gang?"
"Yes. Her name is Histrionic. She has...well, had, the power to shapeshift, including her most used form, a beautiful hedgehog woman. And you were almost done for there, Sonic. If she would've kissed you any longer, you would've been under her spell and your journey would've ended right there. And that ugly face...that was what she really looked like. Gross." She stuck her tongue out in disdain.
"So...I'm guessing you're coming with us to the Heart Temple?" Sonic inquired.
"Well...since the morning ship is done for for now, I figure I might as well tag with you. Besides, it does seem like you need my help, seeing as how you're..." she lifted one of his thin arms and examined it. "Kind of weak."
"Weak! We're talking about the same..."
"Yeah, I know. I live inside your head, you know," she added.
Sonic didn't want to have another argument. He was actually quite happy that he got someone to join him on his journey. The more people the better, he thought.
They all went down the path, as a few lights followed them.