Chapter 14 The Lost King
Shadow got up, and slowly walked toward the Will Breaker.
"Why are you here?" Shadow asked confused and angry.
"There was... a flaw in my plan." Will Breaker admitted shamefully.
"A flaw? What flaw?" Shadow asked getting impatient.
"It is difficult to describe, but when you told Maria you loved her I was almost destroyed... as if I were regaining my soul. I had to leave her body; you are quite fortunate, and yet unfortunate since I will have you suffer a fate worse than death." Will Breaker said menacingly trying to intimidate Shadow.
He didn't care about Will Breaker's threats. All that intrigued Shadow was that he mentioned regaining his soul as if he was once an actual normal being.
"What do you mean by regaining your soul?" Shadow asked suddenly interested.
"I suppose you have the right to know about my past, but it will only make you despise me even more." Will Breaker said proudly.
"Nearly a thousand years ago, I came from my home world of Mobius to Earth; though, how I got here is beyond me and I cannot explain it. When I came to this world I was offered great power far beyond my comprehension and immortality as well. I immediately accepted this power from the being who bestowed it upon me, a being I will not name. I was given the power to raise my own army of the dead. Yes, I was given the power of necromancy. I raised many of the dead in the form of Mobians just like I did to you, Maria. Of course, I was not anticipating your disobedience and for that you shall suffer greatly. Those few Mobians you met on Prison island were my followers. Yes, Maria, they were your brothers and you killed them without a second thought! After I created my army and gave them each a small portion of my power I drove vicious campaigns against a few kingdoms here on this planet, kingdoms you do not hear about today. One of the kingdoms I fought gave my order the name of the Lost and they called me the Will Breaker. Ha! They are very fitting names, but if you wished to know, my real name is Arawn. I destroyed them and established my own kingdom, but those races did not deserve to live and neither do these humans. They are all inferior to us, Maria." Arawn explained.
"You're mad! You assumed that you were the most powerful being in the universe and attempted to destroy everything! You have the largest ego I've ever seen! Shadow yelled in anger.
"Silence! How dare you interrupt my story!" Arawn shouted at Shadow, "Now then, where was I? Oh, yes, after I destroyed those kingdoms, I took a period of rest for a few centuries until one day I discovered rumors of an ultimate life form known as Shadow the Hedgehog. This was obviously preposterous since I knew that I myself am the ultimate life form. But my curiosity got the best of me and I traveled into space and observed your earlier years. I discovered that you had immense power. I saw that you would be the perfect weapon for me to use to destroy the humans. All I needed to do was give you a reason to hate the humans." Arawn smiled at Shadow as if he were sharing a private joke. Shadow suddenly realized where Arawn's story was going, and listened intently. He continued, "I observed you, and realized you cared much for that girl, Maria. Humans are easily manipulated, Shadow. They can be very inquisitive; curiosity drives them. And so when you blamed the humans for her death you desired revenge." Arawn paused and looked at Shadow as if expecting him to try to kill him, but he never did. He continued, "My plan almost worked the first time, but for some reason at the last second you changed your mind about the humans and saved them. Originally I thought that you discovered that her death was my doing and not the humans, but now I realize that you did it out of love. You promised her you would help the humans... you forgave them for what they did. That you would forgive them for everything they did out of love and a mere promise I cannot comprehend. My entire plan failed because of a few measly words that meant so much to you... I will be more cautious in the future. But nonetheless, what you hear is true; all your suffering was caused at my hand." After Arawn finished his story he stared at Shadow waiting for him to attack or at least yell at him, but Shadow didn't say a word.
"What? Why are you not unleashing your anger upon me? Strike me down with your hatred!" Arawn bellowed in confusion, his voice echoed throughout the sky.
"No." Shadow said flatly as he turned around, and began helping Maria up.
"No? I tell you that I'm responsible for all your pain, all your suffering, and you shrug it off like water upon a stone... you forgive me?" Arawn yelled in disbelief
"That's right. I must say because of what you've done I've had to suffer and struggle through life... it has made me who I am. Suffering is the greatest teacher. Besides, without you I would have never gotten to be with Maria." Shadow said staring into Maria's eyes.
Arawn looked at Shadow with great amazement and frustration.
"I envy you... that you could forget all your suffering and learn from it... but you are weak." He said, depressed.
"Weak?" Shadow and Maria both said in unison.
"Yes, you are weak. Weak because you would forgive me for all I have done to you... it will only make it easier for me to kill you two." Arawn said as he stepped forward. Shadow jumped in front of Maria.
"You'll have to over my dead body!" Shadow yelled in anger.
"Well, that was not my preference; I actually wanted you to watch me kill her, but either way works just as well." Arawn said almost laughing.
The King of the Lost drew his double bladed sword.
"Prepare to die... again!" Arawn yelled as he ran toward the two hedgehogs.
Shadow was in no condition for a fight. He didn't want to admit it, but Maria had hurt him very badly. He looked over at Maria who could barely stand without his help. Shadow grabbed Maria, and carried her off to a safer place.
"Stay here." Shadow told her flatly.
"What? No I want to help you!" Maria begged him.
"You're to weak to fight because of what I did to you." Shadow said shamefully.
"And you're in any better shape than me? Shadow, you can't defeat him alone! Please, don't do this to yourself! I couldn't bare it if something ever happened to you!" Maria yelled as tears streamed down her face.
Shadow hugged her and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Don't worry about me, Maria. I defeated him once, I'm sure I can do it again." Shadow said trying to cheer her up.
He began to leave before Maria grabbed him.
"Wait, take this." Maria told him as she handed Shadow the venomous sword that she had stolen from a Lost entity.
"And this." Maria said as she leaned in closer towards Shadow. Maria kissed him passionately.
He didn't hesitate since he knew it might be their last chance. Shadow only wished it could've lasted longer.
"Thank you, Maria, I could use that." Shadow said waving the sword. Maria smiled at Shadow before he ran off toward what might be his final battle.
"How touching." Arawn said sarcastically.
Despite the pain Shadow felt; he now felt much better after Maria kissed him. Arawn lunged at Shadow. He quickly dodged and knocked Arawn's sword out of his hand.
"You are very powerful, Shadow, but I will destroy you." Arawn said menacingly.
Shadow swung at Arawn. The sword struck him in the side, but it did nothing at all! The sword merely deflected off of him.
"You thought you could kill me that easily?" Arawn said shocked.
He swiftly punched Shadow in the stomach. Which sent him flying down the street. Arawn unleashed a flurry of green fire out of his hand. Shadow quickly got up and jumped over it. Arawn jumped into the air, and slammed Shadow into a building.
"Even your powers cannot match my own." Arawn said proudly.
Shadow grabbed the arm Arawn was using to hold him to the wall, and snapped it. Out of shock Arawn let go, but his arm quickly mended. Shadow threw a chaos spear at him. The spear of energy hit Arawn dead on, but, like all his other attacks, it didn't harm him in the slightest. Shadow was starting to get agitated. He ran up to Arawn, and punched him as hard as he could. Arawn was sent flying through the wall of a nearby building until he slammed into a concrete pillar. Even though it looked extremely painful, Arawn simply got up and ran toward Shadow. Suddenly Arawn shot a huge green burst of energy. Shadow quickly sidestepped, and dodged it. Before Shadow realized it Arawn propelled himself through the hole, and grabbed Shadow by the throat. Shadow tried to slash at him, but he was losing his strength. It was as if Arawn were leeching the power from Shadow.
"I won't kill you yet." He said coldly. What Arawn said next was so horrible I will not share all of the details, "I do not wish to kill you. I want you to watch me kill her very slowly. I want you to see the fear upon her face as she takes her last glimpse at you, hear her screams and pleads for mercy, and watch as the life leaves her eyes!"
Fear gripped Shadow's heart as he struggled to remain conscious. Suddenly Shadow saw a white glowing sword purge through Arawn's back. The Lost King looked down in horror. Maria, who was standing behind him pulled the sword out of his back.
"It can't be possible! How did you acquire that weapon? I thought I destroyed it long ago! It is... Dyrnwyn, the blade forged for the sole purpose of killing me! It chose you didn't it... but why?" Arawn said in distress.
Maria didn't say anything. Arawn fell to his knees, and slowly disintegrated. Just like that a one thousand year old being was gone. The sword, Dyrnwyn also disintegrated after Arawn was slain. Shadow started swaying before he collapsed, but he could feel Maria catch him before he passed out.
Shadow woke up abruptly. The first thing he realized was that his head was laying in Maria's lap. He looked around, and realized that they were back at his house. Apparently Maria had done nothing since Shadow had passed out. Her hair was still extremely messy and her dress was still ripped in several places.
"Oh, you're awake." Maria said as she put a hand on Shadow's forehead.
He sat up and looked at Maria confused. Maria grimaced; she realized that she still looked horrible, and began hastily trying to fix her hair.
"It's alright. I think you look beautiful." Shadow said as he leaned in closer. Maria started blushing.
"Shadow, I can't thank you enough for all you've done for me." She said smiling brightly.
"You, thank me? I should be thanking you." Shadow said confused. There was a long moment of silence before Maria spoke.
"You really did mean it didn't you... when you said you loved me?" Maria asked.
"Of course I did." Shadow said confused that Maria would ask such a question.
"Good, because I love you too... a lot more than I have loved anyone or anything else. Without you Shadow, my life would have been ruined by Arawn, but now I can live a normal and happy life with you forever, Shadow." Maria said happily.
Shadow put his arm around Maria. She looked at Shadow and kissed him. Shadow had felt so relieved that they both survived, but it did not compare to how great he felt now. Shadow noticed that Maria was starting to cry and he wiped the tears away. They both sat there for a long time before Maria finally got up the courage to speak those words that Shadow would never forget.
"Shadow if we love each other so much should we get married?" Shadow thought about it for a long time.
What should I say? Am I ready for such commitment? Of course I want to marry her, but should I? Oh, what am I saying? Of course I should marry her! He thought confused.
"Yes, I-I think we should. I would like that very much." Shadow said as he held her hand.
"Oh, Shadow, that makes me feel so much better!" Maria said with tears running down her face, and she kissed Shadow again.
"Uh, I apologize, Maria, but I need some air." Shadow said smiling.
He walked outside and sat down on the cliffside. After a while Shadow heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Silver walking over toward him. He sat down next to Shadow and smiled at him.
"I can't believe you did that." Silver said almost laughing.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without you." Shadow said looking off at the sunset.
"Wow, you must be in a good mood to be thanking me, but you deserve the credit... and I wanted to apologize for doubting you and my behavior." Silver said embarrassed.
Shadow looked over at Silver.
"I'm getting married soon. Would you like to be my best man?" Shadow asked Silver.
Silver nodded, and they shook on it.
ALL CHARECTERS EXCEPT MARIA THE HEDGEHOG AND ARAWN ARE COPYRIGHT BY SEGA
It's finally over, and I would like to thank you guys for reading and supporting me. I have been thinking of writing a new story about Shadow and Maria's children, but you guys might be tired of it by now. I have however brought into great consideration (along with some of my friends) about writing a fan fiction about Sonic and The Lord of the Rings! I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and have read all of the books and the Silmarillion so I think I could do a pretty good job with it. That would be cool. hmm... how about I let you guys decide! Let me now what you think in the comments. (Be aware that the Lord of the Rings story is already finished, but you can still leave comments about it if you'd like).