Tikal's loud sobs were the only thing that could be heard in the room.
Amy sat on the stool, staring at the dead body on the hospital bed in front of her. Silent tears fell down her muzzle as she blinked her forest green eyes every once in a while.
Tails was looking away from the scene, as if it was too much to bear.
Sonic kept his head down in reverence, letting Tikal cry onto his shoulder.
And Shadow…well, Shadow was dead.
The concept seemed like it was too big to grasp. He was the Ultimate Life form. He wasn't supposed to die--he couldn't die. And yet, he did.
It didn't make sense to them how a creature that was created immortal could die a mortal death. But it happened.
Or so they thought.
-
"Say WHAT?!"
Amy could barely believe her ears after the weary negotiators returned (of course, Metal Sonic gave them a 'friendly' exit).
"I'm telling you, that's what he said!" Knuckles repeated, breathless. His chest heaved with each inhale and exhale. "He said that the only way for the cure to work is if he IS dead!"
Tikal stood up. "So what IS this cure?" Her heart was swelling with hope—but she was praying it wasn't about to crumble apart.
"That's just it! I don't know! The only clue he gave us was that it was that Sonic knows the answer!" and for emphasis, he pointed at the blue hedgehog, who was the most confused out of them all.
"Run that by me again?" Sonic asked.
Espio groaned, placing a head on his forehead. I'm surrounded by idiots, he thought.
Tikal's head snapped around to face the blue hedgehog. "Sonic…the only reason Metal Sonic would tell the truth is if he was confident you couldn't remember something…or rather…something you wouldn't want to remember."
Tails caught on. It was evident by the way his mouth opened in awe and his baby blue eyes started to sparkle excitedly. "She's right! And what you wouldn't want to remember is what happened in that room on his base!"
Everyone turned to Sonic as Vector asked, "Well, what happened?"
Sonic's eyes clouded over for a millisecond, before he regained himself. No. He wasn't going to cower down. It was time to open up.
With a deep breath, he wasted no time in explaining everything that had happened in his mind-playing session. Ten minutes later, the whole group was informed.
It was silent in the room by that time. In fact, it was so silent, you could hear the clock ticking.
Then, finding the quiet to be rather annoying, Charmy started singing the unforgettable song Sonic had heard in Metal's base:
Mommy wants a chocolate cake! Abracadabra! Round and round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows! I am so sorry! All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!
Sonic winced, but then Tails jumped up, exclaiming as if the world couldn't hear him, "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"
"What is it?" Tikal was on her feet in seconds a well. She was holding on to the thin thread of hope. Please let it be the cure…
"It's Maria!" the fox grinned, as if it were the simplest thing in the universe.
"Maria?" half of the group chorused in confusion.
"What makes you say that?" Rouge questioned.
Tails turned to them, his namesakes fidgeting and twirling with excitement. "Don't you see it? Every first letter of each sentence in the song spells M-A-R-I-A?"
Silence.
"Why is it always the easy things that are hard to see?" Knuckles complained to the sky, hands raised as if asking the high heavens.
"Oh forget that, Knucklehead! Now that we know the answer, what does that have to do with the cure?" Rouge couldn't help but backhand the echidna on the head before asking her question.
Another deep-thought-moment.
"Well, they're both dead! Maria could just be the thing that helps bring Shadow back to life!" Charmy exclaimed. His face bore a loopy grin.
After hearing that, Tikal bounded upstairs.
"Wait! Tikal! TIKAL!" Amy yelled after her friend.
But the echidna didn't wait. Something in her heart told her that now was the time.
And even she wasn't sure what that meant.
-
Back in the-four-letter-worded-place-that-I-dare-not-speak-its-name, Shadow gritted his teeth as he slid to his knees. He could feel his fur singe to nothing from the incredible heat.
He tried not to complain. Oh, he tried. But it was so easier to swear and let his emotions run angrily.
No! He wasn't going to do that again!
Last time Shadow let his rage go free, he had almost destroyed all of earth.
Something he wanted to face again? Definitely not.
"Shadow…Shadow, please! You must hurry! If you do not make it there in time, you will not be able to go back," Maria's voice was filled with desperation, and her oceanic eyes held the same emotion.
The hedgehog let his head hang. It…it was too much…
Every breath came out rasped, and he could feel his rib cage shake from the amount of effort it took to simply inhale and exhale. The heat made sunburn feel like a blessing, and the pain…
He didn't even want to go there.
"Shadow, please! You can't give up—you mustn't!" Now Maria was on her knees, the heat burning her skin in seconds to a crisp red.
Shadow risked looking up, seeing fear in her eyes. But it wasn't for her. Oh, no. It was for him.
She was afraid for him.
"Maria…" his voice barely came out as a whisper. "I…I can't…"
"Shadow, please! PLEASE! You have to make it!" the blonde girl in front of him was almost shaking him, trying to get it through his skull that he had to go back.
During their run from that crazy woman, Maria had explained to him that the One was going to perform a miracle…one that he had never done before. And it was all going to be for him, for Shadow. Why, Shadow couldn't figure it out. Even Maria told him it was impossible for a living being with a soul to go from the spirit world to the 3-dimensional world. It just simply wasn't done.
And yet, it was going to happen.
And if Shadow wasn't ready, then he would forever be there, in the fiery pit, with her.
"Maria…" he was too weak. It took to much strength to even speak her name.
"NO! Shadow, you HAVE to make it! You have to!" Maria's eyes swelled up in tears, but before they even had a chance to fall, they evaporated into the air.
Shadow opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden whip lash on his back made him cry out in pain.
"There you are…you Beloved…" the voice could only belong to the deranged woman they met earlier. Her voice was filled with a rich hate.
Shadow panted, voice hissing with pain. Blood slowly dripped down his back from the fresh wound. The heat only made it ten times worse.
Maria's eyes filled with fear at the sight of the woman. "N-no! Please don't hurt him!" she cried.
"Pathetic human…" the woman then flicked her whip at Maria, striking her cleanly on her cheek.
Shadow's eyes widened, before his fists clenched with rage. "NO!" with strength he didn't even know he had, he stood up, chest heaving with each forced breath.
The woman raised her eyebrow. "Oh? So the Beloved has finally decided he hasn't had enough pain?" She raised her whip threateningly.
The ebony hedgehog's eyes clouded over in fear. Do not think him weak, reader, either. Have you been in the same position, you would be scared, too. Perhaps even more afraid than he.
The woman grinned sadistically. Again, she whipped Maria, this time getting her directly on the shoulder. Maria cried out in pain, falling over to her side. More heat caused her ripped clothes to burn even more, until they were barely there.
"Maria!" Shadow called out in horror.
The woman smiled at Shadow's predicament. Then, she slowly began to walk around the black hedgehog. Her voice was filled with torment.
"Tell me, Shadow…do you know why she is bleeding?"
Another whip contact with Maria's skin made the hedgehog jump. But Shadow remained silent. His eyes were wide with unimaginable fear.
"It's all the wrong she has done in her life…all the sins she has committed…being paid for…all right now…"
Another crack of the whip to Maria's back.
"And yet you are afraid…why?"
Another crack. By now, Maria was sobbing heavily.
"Is it because…you know you can do something…? But…you are afraid of the price…?"
Another whip lash.
"But why are you even thinking it…? It's not your price to pay…"
Another whip.
"It's all hers."
Another crack.
"All."
Another.
"Hers."
An—
"NO!"
Before Shadow even knew what he was doing, he stood in front of Maria, arms outstretched. Every limb shook, every muscle tense with fear. But his eyes were a whole different story.
"Don't…hurt…her…" it took a lot of strength to simply say that. And it wasn't all physical, either.
"Oh?" there was a tint of anger behind the woman's voice as she raised her whip once more. "And why not?"
Shadow swallowed, mentally begging for saliva. "H-hurt…hurt me…instead…I…"
Maria weakly raised her head an inch off of the ground. Her ears could barely believe what they were hearing.
"I…I will pay…the price…" to tell the truth, Shadow could barely believe what he was saying, either.
The woman narrowed her eyes. Hate radiated from her. "And why are you willing to do that?"
"B-because someone…long…long ago…paid the price…for me…" and as if those were the magic words, Shadow could feel strength spread to every muscle of his body.
It was silent. Long, and silent. And then…
"How?" there was so much hate in her voice, Shadow could promise it was literally dripping from her mouth. "You…you DON'T BELONG WITH HIM! You…you were MADE to destroy! You were CREATED to be the ESSENSE of SIN!"
And as quickly as it had come, Shadow could feel his strength shatter. She…she was right…. But no. Something (a faint voice maybe?) told him that he was more. But that voice was so small compared to everything else—everyone else. Horrific flashbacks ripped through his mind of when he lived on the ARK. All those people…telling him he was only meant to destroy…only to kill…was it true?
But there was that small voice again, defying every single accusation.
The whole controversy made him wonder: where did he belong?
There were so many people telling him he was destined for disaster.
There were scarce people telling him he belonged to the One.
So many voices…but which to follow?
As Shadow closed his eyes, he could still hear the woman telling him how he was made for destruction. It wasn't long until he could hear many more voices, all telling him the same thing.
He was a murderer.
The words echoed throughout his head, pounding and tormenting him.
A murderer…a murderer…
Killer. Weapon. Annihilator. Assassin. Sinner. Fool. Worthless. Tool. Creation. It. Slave…
Murderer…murderer…
Throughout it all, he could barely hear the small voice whispering to him. And what the voice was whispering was uplifting, beautiful. But did it describe him?
Where did he belong?
And as soon as he asked that question, his heart—his soul—knew.
"I belong to Him."
And as quick as a blink of an eye, he wasn't in that-four-letter-worded-place-that-I-dare-not-speak-its-name.
In fact, he wasn't sure where he was. But the first thing he noticed in the new area was that all the pain, all his wounds were gone.
Hallelujah!
Shadow couldn't remember being so happy. He jumped. He ran. He laughed (for the first time in a very long time). He did a lot of stuff which if the Sonic Crew were there, they would've thought him crazy.
But the pain was gone.
Gone.
Who knew a four-letter-word could bring so much joy?
Shadow's smile completely vanished when he looked in front of him. Holy. Cow.
There was an open door in front of him. Behind it, he could hear voices. But they weren't just ordinary voices. They were…powerful voices; voices that sounded like they belonged to kings.
Shadow risked peeking in. Why not? He had to see what was behind it.
And what he saw literally made his heart stop.
At the front of the room before him was a throne, a large one, in fact, with someone who looked of jewels sitting in it. Encircling the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. And then, surrounding the big throne, were twenty-four other thrones, each sat on by an elder dressed in white and wearing crowns of gold. From the throne flashed lightning and thunder, which sounded so suddenly that it made Shadow jump unconsciously.
In front of the throne were seven blazing lamps and a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. Then, around the throne, were four creatures with eyes all around them, and each had six wings. One creature was like a lion, the second like an ox, the third had a face like a man, and the last was like a flying eagle.
Every living thing in the room chattered with one another. The overall feeling was…happy. Joyous. It was like the perfect time with good friends.
Everything was perfect.
Shadow, captivated by the wonder of it all, couldn't help but want to be apart of it. He wanted to be there, talking and having the greatest of times with them. It was hard not to want so.
Lost in the place's beauty, Shadow didn't realize what he was doing until after he did it. Until after he stepped foot inside the holy room, and until after everything fell silent and looked at him, staring at him.
Shadow didn't need to be told what they were thinking. He already knew by the looks he was receiving. He knew he had made a mistake. He knew…
Something did not belong.
