Chapter 26: Enter: The Light Temple
One day. That was all the time that was left for the two—the hero and the princess—to recover the last emerald, stop Eggman, and ultimately, save the world. Only a mere day to finish their travels, make their way through the last terrifyingly dangerous temple, and race out to their final destination.
So in simple terms, it was a "No pressure"situation. Which of course, always managed to translate to a "Just kidding, it's a lot of pressure,"situation, thus leaving Sally in a state of unrivaled panic once again.
But as expected, Sonic kept a level-head and merely smirked whenever Sally brought up the time left on the count-down. He'd laugh, shake his head, and raise an eyebrow as he spoke. "Challenge accepted, Sal." And with that, he'd speed up once again, making Sally screech and shout as Sonic laughed. How was it that she still managed to freak out whenever he did that? And to think she had traveled with him for their entire journey.
The past few days in particular had been somewhat difficult in their traveling, for leaving the mountains had proven to be harder than expected. Another storm had struck them after they begun their descent, and thanks to it, they had spent many long hours in caves—both natural and make-shift—waiting for the storm to calm enough for them to continue. It often left Sonic pacing the length of the cave, impatient as always, going off on a rant on how the storm was driving him mad. He had so much energy bundled up inside him and there was so little time to finish everything. Why did the blizzard have to strike when he needed it the least? Couldn't it have waited just a little bit longer to go wild?
Though it took much longer than expected, the duo finally reached the warmth of the valleys, and as to be expected, the first thing the two wanted to do was bask in the sun's rays. When given their current circumstances, who could have blamed them? After spending an entire week and a day in the mountains and cold air, there was nothing that either of them wanted more than to simply sit in the sun and let its heat soak them to the bone.
If there had been no time limit to saving the world hovering over their heads, the two would have most likely spent the entire day just lying on the grass. Since there was next to no time remaining on the countdown, the two simply continued on with their journey, speeding onward to the next—and final—temple.
After leaving the mountain range completely, it had taken an entire day to run the majority of the distance from the mountains to the temple. By the time they stopped, they ended up only a few miles away from the temple. They spent one night resting and a few minutes on breakfast before heading out once again, ready for whatever challenges would be there to face them.
"Hey Sal," Sonic spoke shortly after landing a quick jump, throwing Sally from her deep thoughts once again. "How much longer?"
Shaking her head as if to remember where she was, Sally took Nicole from her pocket, furrowing her brow in the process. "Less than a minute at this rate, so long as you don't fall into a river or something."
Sonic simply raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"
Sally merely smirked. "You do realize that a river has water in it, right?"
"But is that a challenge?"
"Might I remind you," Sally started, poking him in the chest as she spoke, "That it's you—not me—that can't swim?"
The hedgehog opened his mouth to speak, smiling as if he knew better than her before quickly closing it and narrowing his eyes. "Point taken, princess."
Shaking her head, Sally stayed silent as she looked forward yet again. Finally after what felt like forever, the last temple was in sight. It was located in a large grassy field, surrounded by rubble from broken structures that could have once surrounded the place, and like many of the others, it looked very old. Unlike the others, however, it seemed to—how was the way to put it? Shine? Sparkle? It was a very pretty building, despite its age. And similarly to the previous temple, it looked to be in exceptional condition, like someone was still taking care of it. Maybe the spirit it had been built for perhaps? Or possibly a creature that inhabited it instead.
Whatever it was, it was obvious that Sonic was ready to face it. Even when his smile wasn't in its full-fledged toothy form, it was enough to put the sun to shame. He was beyond excited for the chance to challenge himself, and anyone—even someone who had never even heard of him—could have been able to tell that he was ecstatic to enter the building.
It took about half a minute for the two to reach the front steps of the temple. Once there, Sonic gently put Sally on the ground, smiling up at the structure as Sally glanced once again at Nicole's screen.
"It's not as long as some of them, but it sure is big. And tall. Not to mention tall…" Sally whispered as she stared up at the structure. The building, to be completely honest, was beautiful when the princess really looked at it. Compared to all the rubble that surrounded it, the temple before them was in absolutely marvelous condition.
"Yeah," Sonic said, smiling as he looked up at it, glanced at Sal, and returned his attention to the temple once again. "Maybe there will be a lot of climbing involved?"
Sally simply smirked at that. "My specialty."
Sonic smiled along with her. "You'll just have to wait for me when you get ahead, alright?" Sonic froze in his spot, shivering in a half-joking, half-serious way. "Ugh. That was kind of terrible and totally disgusting to say. Don't ever quote me on that, Sal."
Taking a moment to look back at him, Sally smiled. "I wonder what everyone would think if I told them that you said that to me."
"Is that a challenge?" The hedgehog asked, raising an eyebrow in the process.
"You'll just have to see, Sonic." Sally told him, nearly laughing.
"Then challenge accepted."
Sally simply smirked and rolled her eyes.
It didn't take long for the two to reach the white double doors and stare up at the seventh and final rhyme that sat upon them. And as if on cue, when their eyes met the words, both Sonic and Sally read them aloud. "In this light lies something safe, in the dark, something you hate."
Freezing in their spots, the two both looked at each other, exchanging an odd look before smirking again and turning back to the door. "What do you think it means?"
Sonic shrugged as he placed his hands on the doors. "Don't know. I never do, and I probably never will." He told her as he threw his weight forward, sending the doors flying back into the walls with a loud bang. "And to be completely honest, I'm not sure why you keep asking me about their meaning. I don't have all the answers, Sal."
Shrugging, Sally sighed. "Sorry, I just assumed that you knew everything."
"Well I do, just not every day, Sal." Sally simply rolled her eyes as the two walked in, pausing mid-roll to let her eyes wash over the interior of the temple.
Though the outside of the temple by itself had been beautiful, it was the inside that left both the hero and the princess speechless. The superior craftsmanship on the walls, in the inner makings of the temple was flawless. Beautiful carvings, that the two could only assume had been created to make up for the lack of paintings, were strewn out across all the walls depicting scenes of contentment and success as well as the oh-so sad portrayals of war and heartache.
The walls were only the beginning of the structure's decorations. Above the wall's carvings hung countless chandeliers, each adorned with tiny crystals and jewels that glittered ever so slightly when the sun from the surrounding windows brushed its fingers against them. And above those on the ceiling were flawlessly painted scenes of peace and prosperity, of love and happiness, of selflessness and kindness, and so many other things that—though so far off in a world of war and fear—kindled a small hope for something better. Something sweeter.
To put it in the simplest of terms, the sight was beautiful.
A low whistle from Sonic made both and Sonic and Sally snap out of their dazes and return to reality, their gazes quickly turning towards one another. "Wow. Whoever did this put a lot of effort into it."
Sally simply nodded, a light smile on her face as she let her eyes take in everything again before replying. "Yeah. It's… it's really pretty."
Sonic returned the smiled, nodding in agreement. "I'll say." He looked up at the ceilings, spending an entire moment to examine the paintings before continuing. "I just hope that whatever is in here isn't going to waste the place. It'd be a shame to see something so nice go to waste."
"Yeah," Sally said once before taking in a deep breath and sighing. "It would be a shame." And for a moment, silence hung in-between them. Though it wasn't awkward or strange, it was enough to make them shift in their places and finally make Sally speak. "Let's get going."
The hedgehog smiled at her in approval, and with that, the two began to walk further into the final temple.
After several long moments of awed silence that had taken over, Sally finally spoke once more. "You know, I can't really imagine any monster being in here. It's kind of a funny thing to say, but it feels too peaceful for any monster to get in. You know?"
Sonic hummed, "Yeah, I do. But to be honest, I feel as if something's not quite right here." The hedgehog shared, his eyes racing over every detail of gigantic front room. "It's like there's an old enemy lurking in the shadows."
Sally raised her eyebrows, glancing over to where Sonic was looking. There was a notable distinction between the spots where the sun ruled and where the shadows dwelt, but as far as she could tell, there was no real difference between the two places. And there sure as heck weren't any enemies "lurking" in the shadows.
"Well, I don't see anything." Sally confirmed to herself as the two stepped from the warmth of the sun's rays into the coolness of the shade. "And to be honest, I don't feel different either. In fact, I feel just fine!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms out for dramatic effect and turning to look at Sonic at the same time. "You know?"
The moment Sally's gaze met Sonic, she immediately relaxed her position and pulled her arms back by her side. An immeasurable amount of worry took over her the moment she looked at his face.
"This—can't be. It's been—what?"
An expression of shock and utter disbelief had swallowed Sonic whole as he stood there doing his best to comprehend exactly what was going on at the moment. Sally was a bit more lost than he was. His fists clenched tightly, and to Sally's complete and utter shock, Sonic was shaking. Not from fear, though, but from something else. Something that Sally couldn't explain. Something that she either couldn't see, or in the worst case scenario, something she couldn't sense. Something that had gone drastically wrong.
For what felt like a long time, Sally simply stood there, not knowing what to do. Was she supposed to say something? Maybe do something? Sally took in a deep breath before she spoke. "Sonic, are you—?"
"I'm fine." Sonic said, taking in a deep heavily labored breath. "I just need a moment to contain myself, that's all. Feel free to go on ahead. I'll catch up."
Sally shook her head and spoke, despite the confusion from Sonic's words. "Sonic, you don't look so good. What's the problem? Can I do anything to help?"
"I'd be more than happy to accept any help that I could get," Sonic told her as he gritted his teeth together, clamping his eyes shut in the process, "But right now, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to help, cause I'm pretty sure that you can't do anything about me having to stop myself." The hedgehog paused, shrugging casually before he spoke again.
"Well, you could back away. That would actually be pretty helpful right now. The last thing I need is for you to be mauled to death by me of all people." By that point, Sonic was shaking so badly and struggling so much to get a single word out that it seemed as if he was ready to collapse.
What on Mobius was going on? Why did everything always have to be so darn confusing? Reaching her hand out to touch him, Sally spoke softly, "Sonic, I'm not going to—"
But to her surprise, the hedgehog's hand suddenly wrapped around hers, clenching it so tightly that for a moment she thought he was going to break her bones.
"I said," Sonic growled, his voice raspy and unusually low as he opened his eyes and glared at her, "Back away."
Terror having finally taken her hostage, Sally was barely able to get a single word out. "Sonic, your eyes, they're—"
Sonic let out a single chuckle, shaking his head. "I know, Sal. I know. They're yellow. And right now, there's not a thing I can do about it. Kind of fun though, huh? Makes for a good challenge."
To Sally's horror, she watched as Sonic smiled an unusually sharp-toothed grin.
A scream—loud and piercing and terrifying all at the same time—burst from Sonic's throat, causing his sudden grip on Sally to release. She fell back from the alarm of the cry, and without anything to steady her, she lost her balance and landed flat on her back. The simple action knocked the breath out of her, but it didn't keep her from sitting up to see what was happening.
What she saw nearly left her breathless, even with everything else that she had seen on their journey so far. Before her, Sonic was changing, transforming, morphing, shifting, whatever word she could come up with, into something totally different.
Within mere seconds, his fur had grown out into long blue tangles, his arms had bulged with muscles even more defined than before, and long, pointed claws had protruded from his hands, which were now gloveless. The adventurous gaze that he usually harbored suddenly became sharp and dangerous, and his teeth rearranged themselves into a row of jagged pearly whites. All at once, the hedgehog lost whatever level-headedness he had been able to cling to, and reverted to an undeniably animalistic nature. A very wild and animalistic nature.
It seemed like an eternity and a half had passed before the changes stopped, leaving Sonic frozen in his spot as he took in series of deep breathes. He was still shaking, and after a few more seconds of standing there, the young man fell to his hands and knees, taking in more oxygen in an desperate attempt to come back to regain any control that he could.
Sally, who was still on the floor, was also breathing heavily as she sat and stared at the hedgehog—or whatever it was that he had turned into. What exactly had just happened? How had it happened? What on Mobius was going on? Taking a moment to steady herself—both physically and mentally—Sally stood up, swallowing once before she spoke and reached her hand out to him cautiously.
"S…Sonic? Are you alright?"
It was within the blink of an eye that the hero looked up at her, staring at her with wide, unbelieving eyes. For a moment, it appeared as if his humanity, that thing that gave him reasoning, was still alive and kicking, and when he opened his mouth, it seemed as if he was going to say her name. Then, suddenly, Sonic snarled, and Sally's heart dropped.
After a few breathless moments she opened her mouth to say his name again, but before she could utter a second syllable, the hedgehog growled again. Slowly, he began making his way towards her.
"Sonic, what on Mobius are you doing?" Sally asked as she backed away from him, glancing behind her every once in a while in the hope of finding some way to escape from the suddenly dangerous hedgehog.
He didn't reply to her question. Instead, the hedgehog snarled again, crouching back in his place as Sally's eyes grew wider.
"Sonic! What are you doing?" She cried out, "You're not—agh!"
Without a single warning, Sonic flung himself at her, claws outstretched and teeth bared at her. It was only her own instincts that had saved her from the attack with a quick dodge to the left, but even with that, Sonic's claws still managed to graze her right arm. And boy, did it sting.
Biting back on another cry, Sally growled and grabbed onto her arm. "What is wrong with you?" She exclaimed as she turned to face him again, narrowing her eyes the moment her gaze met his. "Can't you fight this off? You can do it to everything else, but not this of all things?"
The answer to her question was another snarl. Sally quickly shook her head. "I'm not doing that again." And with that, Sally turned and ran.
She could hear the pats of Sonic's hands and feet—or paws, if that was the way to put it—hit the ground in their steady rhythm right behind her as she dashed onwards. Why wasn't he running at his regular speed? It was both relieving and unnerving that he hadn't caught her yet. Had he reverted so much to that purely animalistic state that he couldn't even run properly? Was his mind seriously that degraded?
Swallowing, Sally gritted her teeth together as she shook her head. At the moment, spending any time or energy on anything but the task at hand was not a good idea. She needed to focus on getting away, and fast. The very last thing she needed or wanted for that matter was to be mauled to death by Sonic the Hedgehog.
Caught in-between her own thoughts and her ferocious brainstorming, Sally failed to recognize that she had ran back into the warmth of the sun. Her mind had twisted itself into so many knots that she also failed to realize that shortly after she had returned to its warmth, Sonic had also dashed into it. She was lucky enough to hear the sudden cry of hedgehog though. Recognizing its tone instantly, Sally turned to Sonic once again.
To her surprise, she found that Sonic had returned to his usual sleek and slim self. He was panting on his hands and knees, and his eyes were wide in shock. He appeared to be in much better condition than he had been as, well, whatever he had been just moments ago, but it was apparent that fighting it off—though unsuccessful—had been exhausting.
She took in a sharp breath when he looked up at her, and without another word, she ran towards him. Within moments she was by his side, wrapping her arms around his neck as he did his best to regain proper breath.
"Sonic, what on Mobius just happened? You scared me to death!" She cried out, taking a moment to hold him there before backing away and looking at him in the eye. "Are you alright?"
For a moment, the hedgehog didn't respond. He took a few seconds to search the room with his eyes and file through the thoughts in his mind before looking at her and nodding. "Yeah, I think so. I just… need a moment to pull myself together." Sally nodded in response. "Can you help me up?"
The princess reacted instantly, carefully helping the hedgehog up onto his feet as he took in a few last heavy breathes. "So what exactly happened right there?" Sally eventually asked, keeping her arm around Sonic's shoulder for a moment, waiting to make sure that he had enough energy to stand on his own. "You suddenly turned into this monster and attacked me."
Sonic nodded, gently pushing her arm off his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. I turned into the werehog."
Sally knitted her brow together. "Werehog? That's not—"
"Normal? No, it's not, but it isn't my first time turning."
Sally folded her arms. "You've turned into the werehog before?"
Sonic nodded as he glanced around, "Yeah. In fact, I used to turn into it every night for a few weeks. You know, back when that monster tore the planet apart?"
"You say that like it's no big deal…" She said without thinking in a far-off tone.
He shrugged, "It's not the first disaster I've dealt with." And then, Sonic sighed and shook his head. "Like I was saying. It's not the first time I've turned into the werehog. I've done it before, but this time, I didn't have any control over I what I was doing. I've always been in perfect control as the werehog, but just barely… I nearly got you. In fact—" Sonic suddenly grabbed Sally's arm, pulling it up so he could see the cuts in her arms. "I did get you. I grazed you."
Sally bit her lip, glancing off to the side as he began to utter a chaos incantation. "It doesn't hurt too much…"
She cringed and nearly squealed as the muscles and skin pulled themselves together, and Sonic raised an eyebrow in response. "Obviously, it did."
As soon as the cuts had healed, Sally shrugged. "Well I'm okay now, right?" Sonic nodded, but he remained silent as he folded his arms. Not knowing whether she should have waited for him to speak or waited for him to move, Sally took another opportunity to talk. "So if I'm right, you turned into the werehog when we moved in the shadows, right?" He nodded again, "Did you happen to remember what you were doing as the werehog?" Another nod. "And you can't control it?" And another. "Then let's keep you out of the shadows and keep going."
For a moment, all Sonic did in reply was stare at her. Then after a few moments of silence, Sonic sighed and shook his head. "Sal, there are shadows everywhere in this temple. There's no way I can get through without going through them."
"Yeah, so?" Sally asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Sonic huffed, "I'll turn into the Werehog no matter what."
"I repeat. So?"
The second time around, Sonic growled. "I could hurt you again, Sal."
Folding her arms to mirror his action, Sal scowled at him. "I don't care, Sonic. I don't want to go through an entire temple by myself again."
"And I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Sonic shot back.
Sally raised her eyebrows. "So it's okay if I get hurt by someone or something else?"
Sonic nearly hissed at her. "Sal, you know that that's not what I meant."
Ignoring his comment, Sally gritted her teeth together. "I'm not going by myself, end of story."
"And I'm not going if it means that you'll get hurt, end of story."
And with that, the room fell silent, if only for a moment.
"Sonic, if you can't avoid the shadows, how do you plan on getting out of here?"
Sighing, Sonic glanced off to the side. "I'll chaos control out. I don't think there are any spirits near, so my chaos powers shouldn't have any disturbance right now."
"So you'd just end up waiting for me outside?" Sally asked.
The hedgehog nodded as he turned away from her, taking out one of the chaos emeralds in the process. "There really isn't any other option. If there was, I'd take it."
As Sonic turned away, ready to whisper the chaos incantation, Sally shook her head, swallowing once in the process. "There's always another option, Sonic."
Sonic's ears perked at the sound of her voice, but even hearing those words did nothing for him when it came to preparing himself for what suddenly happened next. Before he could even blink, he felt a great force slam into him, hurling him violently into the shadows and knocking the breath from his lungs at the same time. He landed hard on his hands and knees, his head wiping back towards Sally just in time for him to cry out angrily, "Sal!" before the shadow's power grasped him yet again.
Vicious growls and angry snarls escaped from his lips as Sally tore Nicole out of her pocket. Frantically, she studied the map, given that his transformation was most likely going to be the only chance she'd have to study the temple's layout. Her eyes flew across it at the speed of sound, taking in every detail and forming a path for her to reach the emerald in time. A lot of climbing was involved in this temple, for most of the inner structure had been torn apart after time… the thought, to be honest, was a bit reassuring. Even Sonic couldn't climb as fast as she could.
Of course, that was when Sonic was in his natural hedgehog form. The werehog form that he was transforming into was completely alien to her, and as such, she had no idea what his capabilities were. Though she had already learned that the form traded speed for an immense increase in strength, anything else skill related when it came to the werehog was a mystery.
Well, a mystery for the next three seconds, anyway. Swallowing, Sally looked down at Sonic, shoving the tiny computer into her pocket as she began to back away from him. Even if he wasn't nearly as fast in the werehog form, she didn't want to risk being caught. As soon as she knew that he was watching, she was going to book it.
That moment came much sooner than expected.
The very second that Sonic looked up, teeth bared (as some of his anger from her actions had carried over from his regular state), Sally turned and ran, her heart racing. She dashed for the wall as fast as she could, nearly tripping when she heard Sonic let an angry cry. It took all of her willpower to keep herself from turning, and it took all of her energy to run as fast as she was moving.
Within moments, she found herself at the wall, searching for a place to begin her ascent. She examined the old stone for only a fraction of a second, and the moment she found something large and stable enough to grab onto, she shot up the wall. And to her luck, Sally found that she wasn't missing a beat. Every time she threw an arm over her head, she found another place to grab, and within a matter of seconds, she had scaled the wall and climbed onto the ledge above it.
She spent a few moments steadying herself once she was on solid ground. Knowing Sonic, even when he was in such a monstrous form, he wasn't going to let himself stay far behind for long. Sally couldn't risk gaining too much of a lead. Losing him would only result in her having to back-track and risk getting pounced on, or worse. So with that thought in mind, Sally looked over the edge of the balcony, hoping that no matter how far away he was, it was a safe enough distance that she could continue her frantic run through the temple.
Rather than that, however, she let out a loud scream upon finding herself face to face with him. He had kept up with her, and goodness had he done a good job at it. The moment the sound left her throat, the werehog snarled and threw up one paw, ready to strike her without a hint of mercy. Sally only barely managed to tumble out of the way and run off in the opposite direction, her heart-beat racing and her eyes wide open as he ran after her. Okay, so werehog Sonic was just as good at climbing as she was. If she was smart about it, she could still out-run him and beat him to the goal, right?
Right?
At that moment, Sally honestly didn't know. All that was certain was that she couldn't stop, if even for a moment. She had to keep going, she had to at least try. If she didn't it was going to be all over for the both of them, and that was a fact.
Swallowing and nodding, Sally steadied herself as she continued forward and looked ahead. If she remembered right, she needed to head down the hall until she came across the place where it divided into three directions, five including the two areas that were no longer accessible because of the fallen staircases. From there, she would have to climb up to the fallen entry-way of her choosing (for either way would take her to her destination) and run along that hall until it began to circle around the courtyard.
And sure enough, after a few moments of running, the split in the hallway came into sight. Upon spotting it, Sally sped up taking in several deep breaths as she listened behind her. The steady rhythm of Sonic's running was slightly softer, so it was safe to assume that he had fallen behind when he had climbed onto the balcony. Though there was no way that it could have been a great distance, it did in fact comfort Sally.
Once she reached the fork in the hallway, she dashed towards the wall on the left. A single moment was spent analyzing the structure, and it was just enough time so she could find the easiest way to climb up. With one strong bound, Sally flew off one of the larger pieces of rubble she had scaled, grabbing onto one of the ledges jutting out from the wall upon reaching it. She pulled herself up, glancing ahead before throwing herself onto the narrow remains of the staircase. There was just enough of the structure left for her to scale it without having to climb the rest of the way.
She reached the next ledge within seconds, and with that, she continued down the second hallway, doing her best to move as quickly as possible. Before long, the hall merged with the corridor from the right, and just up ahead of that, the courtyard was visible. For some reason that Sally couldn't fathom, though, there was no sunlight being emitted from it. What on Mobius was going on? The courtyard had no ceiling! The place was supposed to be as bright as could be!
Sally quickly shook off the thought. After everything she had seen on their journey, how was she still questioning things? For crying out loud, she had seen the impossible on a daily basis! A space-ship that was bigger than the moon, several of the spirits of Mobius, Sonic turning into a werehog of all things—
The moment that Sonic crossed her mind, she couldn't help herself from turning back and glancing at him. She was still had a fifty foot lead on him, but to Sally's shock, it was quickly shrinking. Her stamina was failing her.
Sally gritted her teeth together, frustration over-taking her as she turned back. Of course! While Sonic was still slow, his endurance was still present. He could for hours without ever—
The moment Sally's attention had turned forward once again, she found herself over-looking the very edge of the balcony the led to the courtyard. She had just enough control to stop herself in time, but the sound of Sonic's growling (which had grown much closer in an incredibly short amount of time) caused her to go into panic mode and throw herself off the balcony.
This, as to be expected, proved to be a very bad idea. Her lack of planning and short amount of time to position herself resulted in a hard landing on the side of her left foot, which caused a loud cry of pain to escape from her lips as she collapsed to the ground. Holy crap, that had seriously hurt. She had either seriously sprained it, or even worse, broken it. Either way, she was not in a good position.
Despite the pain, Sally pulled herself onto her foot, once as her eyes welled with tears. Oh dear. The rest of the way through the temple was going to kill.
It took a moment for her to get back into the groove of running, and by the time she had, Sonic had landed in the courtyard and continued his chase after her. He was only twenty feet behind her at that point, and the ferocity that he had been displaying during their run had only increased. The werehog was intent on catching his prey, no matter what the cost.
But the prey was not going to let that happen. No way, no how.
As she ran, wincing with every other step, Sally ran through the rest of the map in her head. She simply had to make it through the doors before her which were totally obliterated and wide open, dash across what she assumed to be the ballroom floor, through the final hallway, and then she'd be there. The emerald would be in her possession and Sonic would revert to his regular hedgehog form. It was just a little bit more.
Sally nodded to herself reassuringly, swallowing and biting back the pain as she sped up just a bit. You can do it, Sally-girl. You've been through worse—this is no problem.
The last bit of the run was a blur, for Sally began to focus purely on putting one foot of the other. She blocked out everything else—the lack of sunlight, the raging werehog behind her, the pain that flared every time she took a step with her left leg—and simply ran. She imagined for a moment that she was like Sonic, like running was everything to her. Like she was the wind. Like she was the very embodiment of freedom itself…
She returned to reality in the nick of time. When she snapped back to it, she saw the doorway and the final room before her—a throne room, to her surprise—bathed in light. Sunlight. Her heart leapt from the pure excitement. Finally!
The joy and utter anticipation of returning to the sunbeams robbed her of her common sense, though, and it caused her to quite literally leap into the rays of light itself. She landed on her left foot again, letting out a loud cry of pain as she crumpled to the ground. Gosh, did she ever think about stuff like that? She was becoming way too much like Sonic; she never thought ahead of time anymore.
Seconds after Sally had fallen to the stone floor, Sonic burst in through the giant doorway and into the light. He let out a roar that caught in his throat mid-howl, and before he realized what had caused it, he began to revert to his true form. By the time he had both feet on the ground, he was capable of reasoning and intelligent thought (however intelligent that was).
As Sally swallowed and looked up at him, Sonic wiped his head toward her, his eyes wide when his gaze met hers. "Sal!" He exclaimed.
Exhausted, Sally yelled back in a sarcastic tone. "Sonic!"
The hedgehog narrowed his eyes at her, gritting his teeth in the process. Obviously he was not pleased with her little push, much less with the sarcasm she had just displayed. But hey, he was the one who had taught it to her!
Despite the glare he had sent her, Sonic was by Sally's side within seconds, examining the injured ankle with a still very annoyed expression. "Sal, what on Mobius were you thinking? I could have mauled you to death."
Shrugging, Sally shook her head. "But you didn't."
"I could have, though." Sonic growled, furrowing his brow as he pulled out one of the emeralds, "And I nearly did. Sal, what were you thinking?"
"I wasn't."
Sonic's gaze become angrier and he shot back, "Well you should have!"
Sally flinched back away from the angry hero, her eyes wide as she stared at him. For a moment she stayed still, but after a few seconds of Sonic glaring at her, the irony of the situation struck her. Here was Sonic the Hedgehog, the king of not thinking before he jumped head-first into a crazy situation, chewing her out about not thinking. He was actually lecturing her.
She was unable to control her laughter. And as to be expected, Sonic appeared to be both a bit offended and confused by her giggles.
"What—?"
"Sonic," Sally said, smiling as he stared at her, "You're chewing me out for being spontaneous. You. Me. Chewing me out. Ironic, much?"
It took a few moments for the words to sink in. "Oh gosh," But once it did, it was obvious with how horrifying the thought was to Sonic. "I'm turning into you."
Sally laughed again at the hedgehog, who quickly shook off the thought so he could properly heal Sally's ankle, even though Sally still gave him heck about it. It took a few moments to med. Once it was back to normal, Sally jumped to her feet. Her eyes began to wash over the room as Sonic put an arm around her, partially because he was feeling protective, and partially because he didn't want her out of his sight.
The room was gigantic, white like the rest of the castle, and nearly unrecognizable as a throne room, save for the two chairs that sat proudly at the head of the room. Most of the space was covered in rubble from the lack of ceiling and walls, from which the light of mid-day poured in. There were a few splashes of color here and there where remains of ancient tapestries and carpets lay, but other than that, the room was bare.
"It's really pretty…" Sally whispered, "But where's the chaos emerald?"
Knitting his brow together, Sonic spoke in a low voice. "I was wondering the same thing." He said, becoming silent for a moment. "Of course," Sonic turned towards the twin thrones again. "I don't know why we're expecting it to be so easy to get the emerald. Who are you?"
Though confusion first plagued Sally, surprise filled her when her eyes met the white figure in the chair. "I'm impressed with you two. You made it through the temple without any trouble! Other than that ankle, though. But that was just a minor mishap, yes?"
The man before them was a hedgehog, identical to Sonic in almost every way. He had a lean build with enough muscle to impress (a runner's build, no doubt), long spikes that curved downward, a confident smirk that could have verily easily been stolen from Sonic himself, a fluff of white chest fur—almost as if he were Sonic's albino twin, save for his coloring and his eyes. His crimson colored eyes… they were old eyes. Ancient and tired eyes. Eyes that had seen so much…
Other than his tennis shoes and fancy gloves, the hedgehog wore nothing, once again similarly to Sonic. No armor, no fancy clothes… it seemed strange. The aura about him was so regal, it felt as if there should have been a crown sitting on his head.
Regal or not, if the man had the emerald, they had to retrieve it. "I repeat; who are you?" Sonic asked, his voice a bit more demanding the second time around.
The man merely smiled. "Someone."
Sonic narrowed his eyes, "Alright, fine. I'll ask you something else. Do you have the emerald?"
For a moment, the man simply stared at them with a smile and a raised eyebrow. Then, ever so slowly, he lifted his arm. "You mean this?" A light flashed, and suddenly, the yellow emerald was sitting in the palm of his hand.
Their eyes grew wide at the sight of the jewel, and the man simply smiled.
"I see then. Well," he started, standing up out of the throne. "I'll introduce myself. I'm Meku, and that's all you need to know. Your names are…?"
Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Sonic."
"Sally." Sally told him warily.
Meku smiled again, an amused expression on his face. "Well then, Sonic, Sally," he said and snapped his fingers, making yet another flash of light go off. "Let's begin."
A sword pointing at Sonic and Sally appeared in Meku's hand the instant the light relaxed. Once their gazes reached it, Sonic and Sally changed to fighting positions.
"The rules are simple. If you beat me, I will give you the emerald. If not… well, I'm sure we can guess what will happen, correct?" He told them, a smile on his face.
Sonic huffed, "Sounds good to me."
Meku nodded, "Perfect. But before we start," he said, bringing up his other hand, "Let's even the odds. Shall we?"
Sonic and Sally furrowed their brows, but before they could say anything, Meku snapped his fingers and the room went dark.
Wait, what is this? Is this an update? Whoa! It's been way too long! :O But I promise, there is no way that the next chapter will take so long.
And it ends in a cliff hanger. :) I simply love cliff hangers. Hm... I wonder what will happen?
Thanks so much to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this story from the last time that I updated! I'm sorry I haven't replied to the reviews, but they really do mean a lot to me. Thank you guys so much! :D
Until next time!