Chapter 36: Immortality

They nodded and walked out of the forest. A few minutes later, they came to the Master Emerald shrine and saw Knuckles. The echidna gasped when he saw Dark Gaia.

"He's my son," Shadow cut off anything the echidna was starting to say. "We need your help with something."

Knuckles looked at them, flustered. He cleared his throat and spoke, wondering what they needed help with.

"I don't know how much help I'll be, but what do you need?"

"We were wondering if you could make Tails and I immortal," Shadow said. "I...I have AIDS, and I'm going to die in a few weeks. Since Shadic is Dark Gaia now, he's immortal and will be an orphan."

Knuckles stared at him. "You want me to make you immortal?"

"Can you do that?"

Knuckles frowned. Most likely he couldn't, but he wasn't sure. "I don't know." Knuckles looked at the Master Emerald. "If there's any way to do it, I'm sure it involves the Master Emerald."

Shadow and Tails looked at each other. it was better than nothing.

"Give it a try," Shadow said. "You're the one who can speak to it."

Knuckles nodded and walked up to the Master Emerald, placing his hands on it. He said a chant and it started to glow. Knuckles stared into the Master Emerald. "Can you make them immortal?"

The Master Emerald glowed again and sent out beams of light towards Shadow and Tails, who screamed in pain and fell to the ground. They watched in horror as their spirits were sucked into the giant emerald, and Chaos appeared in front of them. Shadow and Tails stared at him in shock.

"What's going on?" Shadow asked.

Chaos looked at them. "There is a way to become immortal," he said. "But it comes at a high price. Your spirits must become part of the Master Emerald, which will transform your physical bodies into Chaos Emeralds."

Shadow looked down to the ground. After a moment, he looked back up. "Will Shadic get the Chaos Emeralds?"

"I do not know. He is a creature of darkness, and cannot touch the Chaos Emeralds without absorbing their negative energy."

Shadow looked behind him to where Shadic most likely was. He wanted them, not Chaos Emeralds. "I don't think I want to," he said. "I want to be with him. But not as an emerald. As much as it pains me, I'll live out my last few weeks as a hedgehog."

Chaos looked at Tails, who thought about it also. He nodded. "I'll do it." He looked at Shadow. "As Dark Gaia, I'm sure he'll be able to talk to me. I won't have to leave him, then."

Shadow smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"You want to do this right now?" Chaos asked Tails.

Tails nodded. "I am ready."

Chaos sent out a beam of light, which hit Tails. He screamed in pain as he felt his spirit become part of the Master Emerald. Shadow's spirit went back in his own body and he stood up, watching the Master Emerald glow brightly. It hit the body of Tails, which began to transform. His tails were the first things to vanish, pulling themselves up into his body. His bangs were next, flattening against his face. The arms and legs fused with his body, altering the shape of his form. From the inside out, he became crystal. Once that was done, it compressed and shrank until it would fit in someone's hand. The new Chaos Emerald fell to the ground.

Shadow picked it up. he smiled, holding it out to his son. "Keep it with you at all times," he said.

Shadic nodded and took the emerald. "You're still going to die on me?"

Shadow nodded. "I was given the chance to become immortal...but I would have to become a Chaos Emerald to do so, like Tails just did."

Dark Gaia's eyes widened. "Why didn't you? I wouldn't mind."

"I didn't want to live as a Chaos Emerald. Sure, I'd be able to stay with you forever, but I do want to see Sonic again." Shadow placed a hand on Shadic, giving him a smile. "I'll still watch over you."

"Thanks, dad," he said, hugging him.

Shadow nodded back. "You're welcome," he chuckled. A thought occurred to him then. "Are you still going to live in the forest?"

Dark Gaia thought about it and nodded. "For now," he said. "I might move to the Earth's core when you die."

"All right." Shadow smiled. "I'm going to head back home but I'll come back soon. You can talk to the Chaos Emerald; it will hear you."

"Will Tails still respond to me?"

"Yes, the Chaos Emerald will talk to you. Tails' spirit is also inside the Master Emerald, so you can speak to him that way also."

Shadic nodded. He was happy they had done this for him.

"Thank you Knuckles," he told the echidna.

"You're welcome," he said, and walked back into the forest.

Once Shadow got home, he sighed and smiled, thinking about what had just happened. Now he didn't have to worry about what would happen once he died. Shadow sighed and smiled. A few minutes later, though, he began to feel sick once again.

"Damn. I hate this." Shadow went to the couch and sat down. "There's no point to taking the medicine. Might as well wait for this to pass."

He sighed, then felt something on his arm. It was a rash. His throat glands felt swollen as well. Shadow cursed his luck and stood up to get the medicine after all. Hopefully, it would help him. He opened the bottle and swallowed a pill. Once he did that, he sighed and sat on the couch to watch TV. After a few minutes of searching, he found a channel he wanted and set the remote down. Shadow watched the TV and felt his vision beginning to dim. A few minutes later, he was asleep.