CHAIN OF MEMORIES: SONIC'S TALE
Chapter Thirteen: Feel the Magic, Part 1
Last time on Chain of Memories:
Sonic and his team began a search for the mysteriously missing 626, Stitch, without much avail. Only with the help of Dark Sonic were they able to locate him within the stomach region of the meteor. The unruly experiment revealed that he was secretly plotting a way of escaping the meteor by creating as much havoc as possible. This plan proved to be successful with the assistance of a Heartless Experiment and a destruction-crazed dragon. But while Stitch and his creator, Jumba, were shot free from the grapples of the meteor, Angel was unfortunate not to join them. But the pink experiment showed no sign of depression while knowing she and her mate would one day be reunited.
The scene returns to the perfect white walls of Castle Oblivion. The blank doors at the end of the hall opened with a flash of light to expel the Sonic Team from the previous memory. Marine and Angel were talking animatedly in a futile attempt to reeducate the pink experiment in the English language. Meanwhile, Silver and Storm stood on each side of the Keyblade Master with expecting looks.
"Sonic, is there anything else you remember about that other girl?" Silver asked curiously.
"Hmm..." Sonic hummed thoughtfully. "Just bits and pieces."
"Maybe you could try telling us some more stuff about her." Storm suggested. "Who know? It might even help you remember other thing you forgot."
"Well...there isn't much to say." Sonic said hesitantly. In his mind's eye, he could see the outline of the mysterious girl alongside himself, Amy, and Espio. "She was quiet and always playing with her cards. A lot of people say she could use her card to predict the future....like a fortune teller. Whenever we went to the beach, she would always be sitting in the sand, making predictions. She was really good at it. Sometimes, she would predict how the play battles between Espio and I would turn out."
"So what happened, mate?" Marine asked, suddenly appearing at Sonic's side; the hedgehog jumped.
"One day, she was gone." Sonic continued sadly. "I think my uncle Chuck told me the reason why she left, but I was too young to understand. I probably didn't even know what was going on. I remember crying after. I haven't done that since I found out the Chuck wasn't my real dad."
"Then what?" Storm asked.
"That's it." Sonic shrugged. "I still don't even remember her name."
"Aw, I'm sure you'll remember it in no time, mate." Marine said cheerfully.
Looking around to his friends, he was grateful for their supportive influence. He was especially appreciative towards Marine constant upbeat attitude. This was one of the reasons he had come to respect and love her as his own sister. But of the group, Silver didn't seem the slightest concerned for the girl's memory.
"Something weird is going on here." Silver said aloud. "Sonic keeps remembering things instead of forgetting them like the rest of us." The team stared at him for an explanation. "I think what Duskmon said might be true: To gain is to lose and to lose is to gain. He must have been talking about our memories. We need to lose our memories in order to gain others."
"So we have to forget to remember?" Storm summarized.
"Sounds like it, mate." Marine nodded excitedly. "But it's no fair that you get all the super cool memory stuff." She rounded to Storm and Angel. "Come on, mates! We need to forget things faster!"
The albatross nodded and followed the ambitious raccoon up the stair to the next level of the castle. Sonic laughed nervously at his friend's determination, but Silver and Angel merely shook their heads.
"Iki baba." Angel moaned.
Meanwhile, the scene alternates to the secret room at the peak of Castle Oblivion. The black hedgehog female sat at the table in the corner of the room, sending occasional glances to the two figures occupying the space. She felt better knowing that Terro had returned from his short trip, but was displeased that Roodaka still remained. The two unknown entities stood on either side of the crystal ball, watching Sonic's progress.
"Just as we had intended." Roodaka said pleasurably.
"Then we shall continue with our plan." Terro said interestingly. "Let's see how far this crew will go."
The rogue fighter turned to leave, but, much to the hedgehog's joy, he was stopped.
"You had your fun on the second floor." Roodaka noted passively. "So this time, it's my turn."
Terro said nothing while he gazed at the floor – his mind wild in thought. But the silence seemed to provide her necessary answer as she slowly broke out into a mischievous grin. Without warning, Terro snapped backwards and Roodaka shot out a hand to collect the cards tossed her way. She smiled silkily while gliding across the floor and stopped in Terro's gaze. Roodaka effortlessly towered over Terro by a foot – she placed her claws at his chin to force his gaze.
"You should know that I'm not going to just give it to him." Roodaka grinned.
"Don't break him." Terro demanded bluntly.
"Well, do I detect a soft spot?" Roodaka said seductively, brushing her cold hands across the bat's cheek. "I never knew you had it in you. But feel safe knowing that I will not break your little toy. I didn't make it into the Order by being stupid."
"Don't forget..." Terro warned. "Sonic is the key. We'll need him if we want to overthrow the Superior and take over the Order."
In an instant, Roodaka's claw pressed against his lip to cease his talking. She glanced in the corner to the hedgehog girl – she pretended not to listen. Glowering, Roodaka removed her hand.
"Duskmon told me you were in on the plan." Roodaka whispered cautiously. "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep it under your hood. At least until the proper time."
And with that, she vanished into a portal of darkness.
"You would have been wise to do the same, Roodaka." Terro said silently; a devilish grin on his expression.
The scene returns to the sixth floor, where Marine and Storm were charging up the stairs. The duo heroes seemed to have exhausted themselves and collapsed shortly after the rest of the group joined them.
"Anything yet, Sonic?" Silver asked.
"Uh..."Sonic groaned, holding his pounding forehead. "Her name is the only thing I can't remember."
"Akibana!" Angel shouted irritably, waving her finger at the hedgehog. "Achoo chettaka meso alla grest!"
"I don't know what you just said..." Sonic stated nervously. "But I have a feeling I don't want to know."
The pink experiment seemed insulted by that and crossed her arms while glaring darkly. The Keyblade Master could feel his hairs prickling under her gaze. Stepping over Storm and Marine, Sonic approach the platform with the blank door, drawing out the last card in his collection. Finally relieved that this adventure was close to an end, Sonic raised the card to the door and vanished in a flash of light.
When their vision returned them, they stared with interest at the surrounding environment. They were standing in a sweeping plain between a thick forest behind them and a massive stone castle in front. Over to the left, they could see a wide lake that reflected the pale moon from above. But that wasn't what distracted them. Upon entering the world, the true blue hero had gained an unusual appearance. Sonic's gloves had been ripped by his extensive claws, his fur became dark and ragged, and his teeth became unnaturally feral. When the newly transformed Keyblade Master saw his reflection in the lake, he nearly jumped out of his fur.
"What the?" Sonic murmured as he stared into his claws. "What happened?"
"What's wrong, mate?" Marine asked curiously.
"What's wrong?" Sonic repeated strangely. "Have you seen – AAH!!"
Looking back at his team, Sonic once again jumped and hit his head, but not from surprise. It was apparent that it didn't just affect him. Marine had transformed to something that resembled a feline creature with untidy fur and forced her to walk on all fours. Her tail was wagging in the air, giving Sonic the chance to notice to multiple layers of thin scales. Angel looked the same with the exception of the piercing-red eyes, rows of dagger teeth, and three sets of thick, organic wings crawling from her back. Storm was unusually thin with his arm replaced by a pair of lengthy wings and a jagged beak to give him the appearance of a vulture. And Silver's fur had turned deathly grey while acquiring serrated claws like Sonic. The quills on his forehead carried over the back of his head and his mane bristled outwards in a protecting fashion.
"Silver, what happened to us?" Storm asked.
"It must be this world." Silver theorized. "It must have forced a transformation upon entering."
"This place is cool!" Marine cheered, skipping around in circles. "It's like one of those spooky castles in scary movies..." She suddenly frozen while thinking over her words – she started shivering. "I-I b-bet there g-ghosts, too."
It was common knowledge that Marine was afraid of ghosts.
"There's nothing to worry about, Marine." Silver said soothing, patting the feline-raccoon with his claw. "Like my master once taught me, you can't be afraid of something if you already know what's coming. In fact, I'd wager even ghosts would be afraid of us."
"You really think so?" Marine asked bravely.
"Just trust us." Storm nodded.
"Wow, I wish I knew this stuff in my first years."
The Sonic Team jumped simultaneously while unconsciously attacking from all directions. Sonic felt something soft smack across the back of his fist before it dropped into sight, sprawled across the ground. It was a human teenage boy close to Sonic's age with untidy black hair and a pair of glasses. From beneath the wild bangs covering his forehead, the werehog, as Sonic deemed himself, spotted a deep scar shaped like a lighting bolt. Something silvery was wrapped around his waist, which he had to guess, was some sort of invisibility cloak.
Ugh...I'm going to feel that one in the morning." The boy groaned.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Sonic scratched his head sheepishly. He offered a hand to the boy, who surprisingly took it. "What are you doing out here, kid? Aren't you worried that something might try to attack you?"
"Trust me, I've seen worse things than you lot before." The boy stated, staring at Sonic's new form. "And I've made friends with werewolves and giants before. I have no reason to be afraid of you guys." He raised the silvery cloth into view before stuffing it into his robe. "But in any case, I never go anywhere without my invisibility cloak."
"Sounds like you've had an interesting life." Silver commented.
"Oh, I forgot." The boy said heartily. "We never introduced ourselves. My name is Harry Potter and this is Hogwarts."
"The name's Storm." Storm introduced. "These are Angel, Silver, Marine, and the big werewolf guy is Sonic. He's the Keyblade Master."
"The Keyblade Master, huh?" Harry said interestingly. "I think Hermione might have mentioned something about you in the History of Magic class. Then again, she is the only one that stays awake during the subject. You're supposed to be the one that destroys the Heartless, right?"
"Yeah." Sonic nodded awkwardly. "Why?"
"Because we kinda have a problem in Hogwarts right now." Harry stated nervously.
"What kind of problem?" Marine asked curiously.
"Well...."
Barely a moment from his stammer, the Heartless dropped from the darkened turrets of the castle. There were a few familiar Shadows along with two now brand of Heartless. The first was a lanky with unnatural large claws covered heavily in bandages that opened around its torso to reveal the decaying corpse. They would be known as the Wight Knights.
"That." Harry finished.
"Just perfect." Sonic said sarcastically.
---Hogwarts---
As the rest of his team disappeared into the cards, Sonic noticed that Harry had vanished as well – he must be using the invisibility cloak. The Keyblade Master summoned his weapon in hand, but accidentally dropped it when his enlarged paw could not grab the handle. The Shadows saw the clear advantage of the situation and jumped to strike along with the Wright Knights. Sonic tirelessly tried to grab the handle of the Keyblade with his finger, but the weapon of light would always slip through. Furious at his useless attempts, the werehog reached forward and grabbed the Shadows by their heads, raising them into the air with ease. Sonic was surprised by his own strength – he crushed the Heartless in his bare hands.
"This is awesome!" Sonic cheered, crushing a shadow beneath his foot. "Who needs the Keyblade with superior skill like this?!"
"Don't get cocky, Sonic." Dark Sonic forewarned. "The loss of the Keyblade could be one of many draw back for gaining such a power. You must be on your guard at all times."
"Ah, you worry too much." Sonic replied nonchalantly.
He could hear his dark counterpart sighing with irritancy. The Shadows were easy enough to defeat without the Keyblade, but the Wight Knights proved to be another story. At every instant that the werehog warrior attempted to strike them, the mummified Heartless would manage to slither their way around him. Because of his bulk, Sonic was much slower than normal and made him the perfect target for whenever his blows missed. He thrusted his fists forward simultaneously at two Wight Knights, but missed as they twisted around in opposite directions. Once on either side of him, the mummified Heartless slashed their claws at his body, which miraculous managed to cushion half the blow. The Keyblade werehog snapped his teeth at the nearest one, though knowing it was pointless. The Wight Knights were now twirling and dancing in place – they were mocking Sonic. The werehog reached for his gauntlet, only to discover that the piece was buried in his jungle of fur.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sonic exclaimed.
"I warned you, didn't I?" Dark Sonic said, sounding slightly amused. "If you spent less time acting like a wild beast and more time thinking, you might stand a chance against them."
"That's what I have you for!" Sonic snarled, glaring spitefully at the twirling Heartless. "These things are starting to bug me. I hate hem so much that I just want to..."
Driven by his anger, Sonic punched his fist forward and somewhere sent one of the Wight Knights flying into the trees. The Heartless were finished dancing now – Sonic was wide-eyed in curiosity. The werehog's arm had stretched to an unnatural length to catch the Heartless mummy off guard while the furry claw slithered back into place. The Wight Knight gathered around their fallen comrade, watching it twitch endlessly before ripping off its head – the showed no mercy for failure.
"Now that was cool." Sonic commented proudly.
"There is always a balance." Dark Sonic proclaimed. "For losing the power of your Keyblade and gauntlet, you have gained increased strength and a new ability. No matter how sickening it is."
"Ah, you're just jealous because you can't use a cool power like me." Sonic sniggered.
"Whatever." Dark Sonic sighed.
During his moment of distraction, the Wight Knight jumped into the air while twisting their arms in circles. Taking advantage of his newfound power, the werehog lashed his arms forward to the sky and captured to of the mummy Heartless by their heads. The Keyblade Master crossed his arms to toss the bandaged Heartless at one another, sending them flying in opposite directions. One group was sent into the forest, where Sonic spotted a group of skeletal black-winged horses diving upon them. The second group was seen splashing in the lake before being dragged down by a large, slimy tentacle.
"Well, that was interesting." Sonic commented.
"You were amazing."
Harry had appeared once more along with the rest of Sonic's team – the werehog jumped and was kicked to the head by the skeletal horse. Sonic would make a mental note to keep track of this kid wherever he went.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Silver snarled, grabbing Harry's shirt with his claws. "Why did you call the Heartless to attack us?!"
"Keesa!!" Angel roared.
"But I didn't summon the Heartless!" Harry exclaimed fearfully. "I just knew when they were going to show up. The fact is, I've been trying to get rid of them for a while now. They keep going around attacking student. No one is allowed outside their common rooms until the Heartless are gone. I used the invisibility cloak to sneak out."
"Eh, I believe him." Sonic shrugged. Silver sniffed and reluctantly released the teenager. "Why are they in Hogwarts anyway?"
"I don't know much myself, but I know someone who does." Harry said, sounding venomous. "I can't believe I have to crawl to Snape for answers."
"We'll go with ya, mate." Marine said encouragingly. "Let's solve this mystery together."
"Thanks." Harry nodded appreciatively, pulling the invisibility cloak over his shoulders. "Just follow me."
That proved to be exceptionally difficult once he covered his head, making him entire invisible. Fortunately, Angel's heightened sense of smell allowed them to follow behind without losing track. The main difficulty was following through the castle. Past the oak doors of the castle led to a wide entrance hall with multiple doors on every end, but was heavily defended by guards. Silver managed to produce an effective spell that gave them a chance to pass through unseen, but for only a short while. They followed Harry's scent into the lower levels of the castle – towards the dungeons. Once safely in the cold chambers of castle, Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak and continued down the corridor with the heroes following behind.
"What are we doing here?" Sonic asked, shivering slightly. "You're Snape friend live here or something."
"Snape is not my friend." Harry said shortly. "He's just my potions teacher. A lot of students think he lives down here because is cold and shallow like him. Personally, I think he just like being an overgrown bat."
"Such insolence, Mr. Potter."
They could see Harry physically stiffen at the shrewd and drawling voice. Angel latched herself onto Storm's beak when a tall and dark figure emerged from the shadows. They were confronted by a man with shallows skin, a greasy black curtain of hair, and a large hooked nose that gave him the appearance of the bird of prey. To further Harry's proclamation, Snape wore flowing black robes that DID give him the appearance of an overgrown bat.
"Out of bed again, Potter?" Snape said coldly; Sonic felt an icy chill. "I must speak to the Headmaster for your lack of discipline."
"It wasn't his fault." Storm stated defensively. "We were just wondering where the Heartless had come from when we ran into Harry. He said you might know why they are here."
Snape said nothing while he sneered unpleasantly at Harry before directing his gaze to Sonic. Though he was impressed that the shallow man was not frightened by his appearance, the blue werehog could not help but feel mistrusting. For one moment, Sonic felt an irritable buzz in the back of his mind. Quick as a flash, Snape pulled out a thin piece of wood from his sleeve and aimed it for the Keyblade Master. Though Sonic didn't know what would happen, he felt concerned by Harry's fearful expression. A moment later, the door behind Sonic kicked open.
"In." Snape commanded. The group did not dare to question him and trudged inside with the Potions Master slamming the door behind them. "If the situation was different, I would have a mind to report you to your head of house. But under the current circumstances, I'm ahead I will need the help of the Keyblade Master."
"How did you know Sonic was the Keyblade Master?" Marine gasped.
"Legilimency." Silver answered. "The ability to navigate through the many layers of the mind."
"Ichi kata?" Angel said.
"I was experimenting on the powers of True Memories." Snape answered, somehow understanding the experiment.
"True Memories?" Storm repeated confused.
"The heart is full of memories." Snape explained. "But not all of them reflect the truth. They can not be seen and recorded within an instant. Even important memories can be lost with time. They warp or fade, leaving us with but a shadow of what we hoped to remember."
"Could that happen to me?" Sonic asked, suddenly thinking of the mysterious female in his memories.
"It happens to everyone." Snape stated coldly. "Some memories grow hideous and some become more beautiful. If we could recover our true memories, the world would seem completely different. So, I devised a potion from forget-me-nots to bring back True Memories."
"Did it work?" Harry asked nervously.
"That is the gist of the problem." Snape replied. "As soon as I caught the scent of the potion, the Heartless appeared in the castle."
"Sounds like a failed experiment to me." Silver commented.
"Nonsense." Snape sneered. "My research was flawless. I would be able to determine the source of the Heartless attraction, but the potion was pilfered from me during the invasion."
"Did the Heartless take it?" Marine asked.
"No." Snape glowered, turning to Harry. "It was that Weasley girl. She took it from me the moment the Heartless appeared in the castle. Thus, it is your job to get it back or you and Ms. Weasley face expulsion for theft and breaking new rules."
"Just leave it to us, sir." Sonic said politely.
"See to it that you do." Snape muttered darkly.
Sonic felt that spine tingling chill once again. The werehog grabbed Harry and Marine by their arms before dashing out of the room in the blink of an eye. The rest of the crew glanced at the dust trail left behind and looked to Snape before following their trail.
Even memories can be a dangerous thing. Will Sonic and the team find the source of the Heartless? Will Sonic ever remember the name of his forgotten friend? And what does Terro, Roodaka, and Duskmon have planned to overthrow the Order? Find out on the next Chain of Memories!
Please, read and review.