Chapter 11: The Journal

Before them laid the one thing that they never thought they would reach. A sense of joy and accomplishment filled Amy as she looked over Sapphire City, but something deeper than that filled Shadow. Curiosity, wonder, and most of all, anxiety filled his soul. What would he find down there? Never before had something like this filled Shadow. It felt like his stomach was doing flips inside of him, and it made him want to throw up. He had no idea of why he was so anxious, but he had a feeling that he'd soon find out.

"Shadow," Amy spoke, Shadow turning to see her looking a little worried. "Are you okay?"

Shadow half-heartedly nodded, looking down at the ground as he sighed. Honestly he wasn't, but there was no way he was going to tell Amy that, but of course, Amy just raised her eyebrows and let out a simple 'ha'. Although they had started talking more, Amy still liked to refer to her "secret weapon".

"Let's just see something now," she said, taking the glass rose out in the same method that she always grabbed her hammer. Silence followed or a few seconds before she hummed. "Shadow, there's no reason to be nervous, right? We're just going to see the doctor's grave, that's all."

"Yeah…" he sighed before he looked forward yet again. All he had to do was take a step forward and they'd be on their way. Shadow took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. One step.

Amy looked at him carefully for a second before she looked down at the city once more. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. If he wasn't going to go, she was. Without another word, she began to walk off. Silently Shadow followed.

"So Shadow, is there anything in particular you're hoping is in the journal?" Amy asked, putting her hands behind her head in a casual manner.

Shadow shrugged, "Not sure."

Amy glanced back, "Really?"

"Really."

Amy sighed and looked forward yet again, "Huh. I'd expect you to hope for something about Maria. You know, like a last goodbye note. Something like a love note?"

"Why would something Maria wrote be in Dr. Robotnik's journal?" He asked. Amy shrugged and Shadow frowned, "No, not a love note. Maria was like a sister to me, nothing more." He paused for a second. "No, Maria was my sister." He said with certainty in his voice.

"Really? I thought you liked her."

He shook his head, "She was my best friend and my sister, but I didn't like her like that."

"I see…" Amy whispered, looking up at the sky as she thought of the ARK. "Say Shadow, what was Maria like?"

Shadow looked up at Amy, breaking free from his stupor of thought. It had been a long time since he had told anybody about Maria, and the question surprised him a bit. Although it should have been expected, the words had thrown him off. He looked up at Amy carefully, expecting her to turn around. When no such thing occurred, he continued instead.

"Maria was very kind and selfless in everything she did. Even though she was sick all the time because of her disease, she always put others before herself, especially me. I never understood it, and I still may not fully understand it today… but I do know that she was my best friend." Shadow sighed, looking up at the sky once again. "We spent every day together doing all kinds of things. Sometimes we'd read books together, sometimes we would draw pictures together, or as you should know now, we would sometimes dance together. Only now do I realize how much I took it for granted…"

Amy nodded, "I see… I would have loved to meet her."

"I think she would have liked to meet you too." Shadow whispered softly, "If she was still alive, I believe she'd be about… sixty-eight right now? Yes, about that old."

Amy glanced back at him again, "So, she'd be like, a grandma's age?"

Shadow smiled slightly, "Yes, she'd be like a grandma's age. In fact, I'm sure that if she was still alive, she probably would be a grandma. She always talked about getting married one day…" he trailed off, looking up at the sky as he buried himself in thoughts.

Amy smiled at the thought. Just like almost every girl Amy had ever known or heard of, Maria wanted to one day find her prince charming. In a sense, it made her feel closer to Maria. Amy one day wanted to find the man she could forever be with and love. Of course, she had always thought that the man would be Sonic, but she knew better know. Silently, she asked the question of whom to herself. The first image in her head made her heart skip a beat, as it was the black hedgehog she suddenly imagined being married to. Her cheeks flushed red and Amy shook her head. Why would Shadow ever want to be married to her? She was supposed to be the 'annoying one'.

Amy looked down at the ground in front of her, sighing every once in awhile. It had seemed like such a long week. Shadow had finally recovered from his wound with nothing but a faint scar to remind him of the incident. After Amy told him the new of him being totally healed, the journey took a much faster pace. Secretly she had been looking forward to it. Finally, Shadow could run again. When she told him that running was an option again, he literally perked up both in mood and spirit (of course, he still preferred to be silent). At the first second that it was allowed, Shadow shot off.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the run was the fact that it was the first time she had ever traveled at that speed. The only other person she knew that could run that was fast was Sonic, but he had never carried her and ran. Sure, he had held her when rescuing her on several occasions, but those had obviously not been full speed runs. The run with Shadow had. She hadn't screamed, but she had been breathless for quite a bit of the run.

Amy glanced back at Shadow, the thought of the run still fresh in her mind. Never before had she experienced anything like it. She knew no words that could properly describe the amazing experience, but of the ones that she could actually speak concerning the run, it had been nothing short of amazing. Truly, it had been a great day.

As she thought of the experience, she couldn't help but look back at him. His gaze was averted and he was deep in thought. Of what, Amy knew not. Quietly, she looked at him from head to toe. For the first time since she had seen him, she noticed something was off. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something was different from the first time she had seen him. He couldn't age… so why was something different? It took her a few more seconds than it should have, but when she realized it she exclaimed, "Ah ha!"

Shadow looked back at her, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"I knew something was off! You don't have your rocket shoes! You've been running differently, that's what it was!" Amy yelled, resulting in Shadow giving her a strange look. Amy hummed nervously at the look, then looked forward again and began to walk a little faster. Of course, Shadow had no problem keeping up.

It was silent for a minute or two before Shadow sighed yet again, "Do you know how my rocket shoes were destroyed?" Amy shook her head, and Shadow chuckled, "You should remember me telling you that Sonic sucks at performing a perfect chaos spear." He looked up, "It wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience, but I look back and laugh at it. I don't quite know why, though." He was silent once again, but shook his head and continued, "Anyways, like I was saying… Sonic sucks at chaos spears. You know that by now, but I had to learn that the hard way."

Before Amy could ask, Shadow continued. "When you perform a chaos spear, your intention needs to be that of harming your opponent or target. It is not merely a self defense move, but an offensive attack with the goal of hurting someone. You can't let your confidence falter for even a second. If you do, your attack will not succeed." He said, looking past Amy for just a second to see that they had finally reached the city limits. "Sonic never really had the desire to harm anyone. He came to learn the chaos arts so he could protect, not destroy. However, I told him that if he wanted to 'protect', sometimes you have to 'destroy'. He didn't quite like that, but he kept on trying."

"We started out with the basics of the chaos spear, like learning the proper technique, the right maneuvers to perform a good spear, and many other necessary key factors when you do one. He had all of those mastered within in a few hours, but when it came time to actually perform one, he struggled. The fury needed to throw a spear was not there. For the entire rest of the lesson, he struggled to even summon much as the tiniest spear. After awhile, I ended the lesson and told him to go home and rest. I'm not quite sure he has a home, but you get the point."

"The next few lessons were the same. He would try and fail miserably, and that only resulted in him becoming more frustrated and nervous while I began to lose my patience. I started yelling at him, like I usually did when he struggled, and I began to threaten him. 'If you don't get it right, I'm going to have to throw a spear in your face!' He didn't like that at all. Although he kept his anger at bay for as long as he could, I finally was able to make him crack one day. He got so mad at me that he threw the perfect chaos spear. It was great, and I would have been a little happy with his progress if he hadn't thrown it at me." At this part of the explanation, Amy gasped to herself.

"It just so happened to hit my feet, and the spear me back about ten meters or so. When I landed, Sonic was there apologizing as if there was no tomorrow. I don't think I'll ever forget that expression…" Shadow sighed, Amy slowing so she could walk alongside Shadow instead. He waited for her to be by her side before he continued. "I was mad, furious to be honest, but I was a little pleased at the same time. He finally got it right, but of course it had to be when he hit me. I was overwhelmed and a little shocked, so I told him that the lesson was over. He left in a wreck, and I went home to patch myself up."

"I had third degree burns all over my legs and to my shock—and fury—my rocket shoes had been totally destroyed. There were huge holes, they wouldn't turn on, and they had almost melted in the heat of the spear. It took three hours to get those things off my feet, and another half an hour to bandage my legs. When I went to bed, I felt totally exhausted. The next morning when I woke up, I came to the surprise of finding Sonic in my living room. Before I could say anything, he stood up and walked over to me. He conjured up a box with his chaos powers and handed it to me. As he continued, I opened the box."

"He apologized for his ignorance and his mistake. He told me that he wouldn't bother me again, and then he explained a little bit about what was in the box. Inside was a new pair of black and white sneakers made by the same company that Sonic's sneakers were made from. It surprised me to say the least, mostly because that was a very expensive brand—I knew this because I had been the one to buy him the ones he is wearing now. He told me that 'they won't wear out for quite a long time,' and that they 'are the best the market has to offer'. I knew everything he was telling me, but I let him continue anyways. When he was done, he said sorry one more time and turned around, ready to leave."

"He was about to reach for the door when I told him to wait. He turned, ready for the worst when I sighed. I told him that his training wasn't over, and instantly his entire countenance lit up. I wasn't able to continue because he suddenly came up and flooded me with a million 'thank you's. After we finished all of the 'thank you's and 'shut up's, we finally left for more training." Shadow said, Amy smiling at the good ending she had been hoping for.

"Well, that sounds like it was fun. Did you heal quickly afterwards?" Amy asked.

Shadow nodded, "Of course I did! I was sore for awhile, but it only took three days for the burns to heal."

"That's good." Amy sighed, looking forward. They were deep into the city now, and what Amy saw filled her with surprise and awe. The city was massive! Although Station Square was big—huge to be accurate—this city dwarfed it in comparison. There were skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, and from what the eye could see, that was absolutely everywhere. They kissed the sky in a wonderful fashion of lights and windows, and looking up at them made Amy's eyes light up. What a beautiful sight!

As they continued to walk, the streets became more and more crowded. Amy was still looking up at the buildings, and that resulted in her crashing into one person after the other. Eventually, Shadow grabbed onto her wrist and began leading her through the crowd of animals and humans. Several minutes after that, Shadow stopped walking all together and stopped to look at Amy. He folded his arms and began to tap his foot. Sometimes this girl had her head to deep in the clouds.

At the rate they were traveling, it probably would have taken them a few hours to get where they needed to go. The very knowledge of such began to bring a mild case of irritation to Shadow. After several minutes of Amy standing and looking at the skyscrapers, Shadow sighed.

"Amy…"

"Yeah…?" she replied half-mindedly, still gazing up at the buildings.

"Can we get going?" Shadow sighed, followed by a rather stocky man bumping into Shadow. As he fell forward a bit, Amy looked back at him. He was giving the man an irritated look when he noticed Amy had finally looked down.

She nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that." She sighed, looking forward once again. The two continued the walk down the street; Amy looked around once in awhile to see the splendor of the huge city.

"Hey Shadow, why did they name it Sapphire City?" Amy asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know. Guess you'll have to look it up?" She nodded to herself, and Shadow looked over at her for a second when a question came to mind. "Hey, why are you so amazed with this place? It's just a big city; there are tons of them all over Mobius."

"I know, I just… I don't know." Amy whispered with no hint of concentration in her voice.

"That didn't make much sense."

"I know." She sighed, Shadow raising his eyebrows in response. Looking around one last time, Shadow sighed.

"Okay," Shadow said, quickly walking over to Amy. "Let's go a little faster, shall we?" Without waiting for a response, Shadow scooped Amy up in her arms. Her heart skipped a beat out of surprise, then it skipped another when she suddenly that they were traveling at the super speed once again.

It had felt like they had run for only a few seconds when they stopped. Shadow carefully put her down, looking forward with a very different expression than what Amy would have expected. When she looked over to see what he was looking at, she instantly realized why he looked so… sad. Before them laid the graveyard of Sapphire City.

Amy was speechless. She didn't know what to do, but when Shadow started walking forward, she silently began to follow. The atmosphere around the literally lifeless yard was heavier than any load Amy had ever felt. Maybe it had something to do with Shadow's sudden change in mood. Yes, that had to be it…

She followed him silently, wondering what was going on in his head. He must have felt so… oh yeah! Carefully, Amy grabbed the glass rose, looking at it with care in her heart and soul for the poor hedgehog. Just as she had expected, the rose was not doing so well. It looked withered and lifeless, making Amy swallow. Shadow once had said that he was over his past… but was he really? He had never visited the place the doctor and Maria was buried at, he had even said so himself. It must have been so hard for him…

The ebony hedgehog walked as if he knew exactly where he was going. Somehow, it felt as if he had been here before, as if he had spent an entire life-time here. Nothing could describe how he felt at the moment. Shame, guilt, anger, and misery attacked him all at once, and something deep inside of him urged him to turn around and never return. But how could he? He was so close, yet so far…

After several minutes, Amy swallowed. Gathering up all the courage she had in her body, she spoke in a quiet voice, "Do you know if we're almost there?"

Shadow nodded, "Yes. In fact," he said, stopping at a particularly humble gravestone. "We're here." Amy looked down to see the one object she never thought she'd see in her whole life.

It wasn't the doctor's gravestone, but the words on it did not surprise Amy one bit. Silently, Shadow knelt down, an expression of misery too large to measure on his face. As Amy looked at the gravestone with an expression of sadness just as powerful as Shadow's, she came across a surprising truth. The birth date was May eighth.

"Happy birthday Maria…" Shadow whispered, tracing his fingers along the edges of the cold stone, "I'm so sorry… I wasn't… I… I failed you. I'm sorry…"

Tears filled Amy's eyes as Shadow spoke. She couldn't even begin to imagine the pain that he was in, let alone deal with the hurt she was feeling right now. She hadn't even met Maria and the words had broken her heart. To be Shadow right now... it had to be… Amy shook her head and without another word, knelt down and wrapped her arms around the black hedgehog. She had no words of comfort for him. The silent embrace was the best she could do.

It was silent for a few minutes. Amy was not able to hold her composition and she cried without sobs for those endless minutes. After the time had passed, Shadow put his hand on top of hers. "Thank you Amy…" he whispered, standing up slowly so Amy could also stand up.

Amy nodded silently, still wiping the tears off her cheeks. He turned and smiled softly at her, "Hey, you don't need to cry."

She shook her head, "It's okay, I'm okay." Shadow smiled the gentle smile again.

"Well, let's go than, okay?" He asked, looking over. "His gravestone is over there," he said, pointing off to the left. Amy nodded and Shadow nodded back. No other words were exchanged between the two as they walked off towards the gravestone.

This one was a little more decorated than the other, and the stone itself threw Amy and Shadow off. It looked quite... holy, if that was the correct term. Angels, halos, and the large shape of a book—probably the bible—took up most of the room on the stone, making even Shadow raise his eyebrows. Although he knew the doctor believed in God, he never knew him to be so… so… honestly, Shadow didn't know how to describe it.

Amy also raised her eyebrows. The fact that the doctors gravestone was so large compared to Maria's surprised her. She would have expected that back then, the doctor they would have given her a fancier tombstone. To her, it was quite odd.

Like the last tombstone, Shadow knelt down by it, looking at it carefully. He put his hands on the stone, feeling around with a great curiosity. Almost instantly, he could tell something was off. Something was much different about this gravestone than the rest… it was like it was hiding something…

He was still a little surprised by the stone's design. No, he didn't resent it, for Shadow also believed that there was a God, he was just simply surprised. There was something about it, but, what was it about this stone that was making him so curious?

"Maybe it's really a machine?" Amy asked, kneeling down next to Shadow.

"No…" Shadow sighed, "The doctor wouldn't have had any time to build it. He was put on death roll, remember?"

"Right…" Amy whispered, watching Shadow as he leaned forward and sniffed it. Amy raised her eyebrows as Shadow backed away a little so he could put his ear next to it instead and with his right hand, knocked on it softly. He almost jumped at his results.

"It's hollow. This part," He said, pointing to the book carving, "It's not solid like the rest of it." His eyes become a little wide when the realization hit him like a train.

Before Amy knew it, Shadow had taken out the chaos emerald he had and called out, "Chaos control!" There was a flash of light that followed the cry, and Amy had to look away because it was so bright. When she looked back, she found herself gaping like Shadow was.

There in his hands laid Dr. Gerald Robotnik's second journal.


Okay, I usually don't do author notes, but there is something I need to say this time! School is going to be in soon, so chapter updates are going to be a little slow. Trust me, this makes me sad too! Unfortunately, homework is something I can't control, but I promise you in saying that this story will be finished one day!

On another note... don't you guys just love cliff hanger? I know I do! What is inside the journal? Hm...