Just to start, thank you very much for your faves, follows. Thank you to pinksakura271, BlackButler181, and Tessa the hedgehog for your reviews. I also kept butchering Madam Vulga's name, too. I did name her "Valga", but I think "Vulga" has a better ring to it. So she is now "Madam Vulga". Sorry for the small confusion. Let's get this started!
Chapter 2. Amy Rose, the Last Hope
The young lady began to slowly awake as she opened her eyes a few times before leaving them open. She couldn't see much for now, but it looked as if she was in another room. Was it her room? The hospital? 'Ugh...what a nightmare...I dreamed that I went to some weird place after a big glowing light happened..' she thought while rubbing her eyes of any dust she had collected. Once Amy's vision was able to return, she was able to see where she was. And it looked like she wasn't dreaming this time. It looked like she was in a bedroom fit for a princess.
She was in a very large canopy bed with purple, velvet drapes covering one side of the bed, leaving the other open for her to see the room. A grand fireplace was in front of her with a large mirror over it, a purple, velvet couch and chair sitting right in front of it. A wooden wardrobe was on her side right by the bed, and besides a smaller bed side table with a small lamp on top. The walls were painted white with a few, large pictures of what seemed to be famous people. Decorative designs were etched in the paint to make it look more lovely. A large rug was placed on the wooden floor under the bed, couch, and chair. Lastly was a very beautiful chandelier that had glowing orbs of light which really surprised the young girl. Even the lamp had no light bulb, but a small orb like the ones on the chandelier.
Amy had no idea where in the world she was. She didn't know anyone that was regal, nor a rich person in her city. Well, there was a rich person, but not as filthy as these people. She took in the scenery as she gawked at how amazing it looks to just be in the room as beautiful as this. Her eyes landed back onto the small table and finally noticed the necklace she had seen before. So what she had witnessed before. The necklace coming out of nowhere, her being engulfed in a brilliant light, then sent to some abnormal place. It really was real. Reaching to her side, Amy carefully picked up the pendant and held it up to look at it more closely. It was a very beautiful gem, a green color like her eyes. It was a tear drop shape stone that glowed a rainbow color just from the glare of the sunlight.
"How pretty..." she said in bewilderment. She held it up by the string it was attached to so she could watch it twirl around slowly. Just then, a few letters seemed to come up from inside the gem shocking her greatly enough to drop the necklace onto the bed, "What in the world...?"
Once she had dropped the gem, the letters seemed to have disappeared instantly. Amy slowly reached down and gripped the string again and held it up again to see if the letters will return. And they certainly did once she gripped the necklace. She watched more closely as the letter slowly began to appear one by one till a whole sentence had appeared. It seemed like they were easy for her to read. "Magic within shall light through darkness and find those with the gift." she read, "...Magic within? Find those with the gift? What does that mean...?"
"It means that this gem shall help you on your quest."
Amy immediately dropped the necklace back onto the bed and whipped her head to the side so fast, she almost broke her neck. There at the door was the same old crow woman with two lions behind her and the black and red knight beside them. All four walked in slowly, but the crow made her way towards Amy, who was now scrambling off the bed once she saw that she was getting closer to her. "St-Stay back! I didn't steal anything!" she cried.
They watched the poor girl drop down from the bed, only to get a bit tangled up in the closed drape she had forgotten completely. The crow stopped just at the edge of the bed watching her pull herself out of the drapes and onto the floor. Amy had thrown herself down once she was finally able to get untangled, she sat on her bottom with her hands behind her holding her upper body up. Her quills were a bit wild since she was ruffling her head a bit in the velvet fabric. To her surprise, she wasn't wearing what she had on earlier, but a white, silk dress with spaghetti straps clinging to her shoulder and draped down to her legs covering her feet from how long the skirt was. She looked up at the four, who were just staring out of confusion of what she did just now. But that didn't stop her from freaking out. These people are wearing weird clothes and she was in some sort of princess chambers.
The crow finally spoke up, but only a small chuckle. She knew how scared this girl would be since she is in a different world from her own. "Do not be afraid, young lady. We only want to talk." she said in her crippled, but sweet tone a grandmother would use.
Amy carefully did a crab walk backwards till her back was now pressed against the wall that was closer to the bed. "Who are you people? Where am I? Where is the graveyard? Where are my stuff?" The lioness finally spoke up.
"Honey...you don't remember?" she asked in her sweet tone she used when she spoke to her for the first time.
She shook her head quickly. "No...No I don't.. I wanna go home! I'm sorry if I stole that necklace! It just appeared out of nowhere!" she whimpered feeling tears slowly begin to form in the corner of her eyes.
The knight watched still completely confused as to why the mage had summoned this girl from some other world. He turned his gaze away from Amy over to the crow. "I still have no idea why you have brought her here. Including me." he added on since he was still trying to wrap his head around this whole thing.
The mage turned to the knight and nodded. "I will tell you, Shadow. But let's let this poor girl calm down till we tell her." she instructed now turning her head back to Amy, "My name is Vulga. But I am mostly named as 'Madam Vulga'. I am a well known mage who has seen the future of our once glorious kingdom come to ruin, but I have seen you as our savior, miss Rose."
"Oh great, you know my name..." Amy gasped, "How am I a savior? I'm just an ordinary girl that is trying to get through life!" The elder lion turned towards Madam Vulga.
"My lady, Vulga. Are you sure this is the right person? She's such a frightened girl, she might not be what you have seen." The old crow turned to him with a small glare.
"Your majesty. My visions are never wrong. This young lady is our hope for our kingdom." she scolded before turning back to Amy, "My dear...can you please stand and come over so we can discuss why you are here? We are not enemies, only allies."
She really didn't want to listen. She was still scared out of her mind. But something about these people seemed alright to trust, except the knight, Shadow from what she had heard. She couldn't help, but feel a little scared of him. Tho he did look pretty handsome in her eyes. Slowly, but surly, Amy gripped the walls tightly as she pulled herself up off the floor and onto her feet. Luckily, her legs were not injured when she was transported, but she still felt a bit dizzy from sleep and how she was sent flying into god knows what she was in. Once she was on her feet, she moved herself around the front of the bed while literally hugging it with her hip till she gripped one of the nearest polls that held the canopy up.
Madam Vulga wanted her to at least rest some more, but she decided that since she was up and moving, it was time to explain. "First...I would like to introduce you to the king and queen of Celedane. King Aldar, and Queen Lida" she said as she moved her hand that was still clutching her staff now pointing the tip over to the two regal couple, "Beside them is Sir Shadow. He shall be you're bodyguard for your quest."
Both Amy's and Shadow's eyes went wide and shouted, "What?!"
"Don't shout. It's quite rude." Madam Vulga scolded again, her cane was back on the floor with both hands on top of the blue orb, "Now...I will tell you why I have brought you here. Please listen as best as you can."
Amy was still shocked at the fact that Shadow, some guy she never met, was now a bodyguard for her. Not to mention that she'll be on some weird quest like the stories and movies she had seen before. Madam Vulga began to speak as she gripped the bottom of her cane and used her other hand to wave over the stone. All four watched as she made the orb glow brightly again before a ray of light shot out from the orb and onto the floor. The light started to form a huge land full of greens and trees with lots of villages and a big castle, the one they were all in. "A long time ago, there lived an evil king who wanted to take over the land and use it for his own selfish needs."
The picture started to change to what looked to be a large male beast, a bear like monster with large bat like wings and a wicked grin that sent shivers down both Amy's and Lida's spines. "His name was Agrid, King of the Demons. He wanted this world as a land of dead, and rot. To rule over his undead slaves and destroy many other lands he could find. He had almost succeeded in taking our home for his, to rule over with an iron fist. But then, a hero appeared with six others beside them." The picture then showed the seven people she had mentioned, all standing before the demon holding up their hands making them glow different colors, "The hero held the power to combine all six elements to destroy the evil king. Light, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and Electricity. Once they were all combined, the hero vanquished the evil king till there was nothing left of him."
The picture showed only the hero with the six colors from the followers now coming together to form a white sword that shined brighter than the sun. The hero leaped up and swung the sword at the demon king making the picture fade into what looked to be a deserted land. "After that, the land the demon king had once ruled, was now a deserted waste land full of decay and dust. We call it the "Forbidden Land of Darkness". Anyone who is brave to venture out there will meet a terrible fate. The hero and the six chosen all disappeared once peace had been restored. No one has ever seen them since. That was over two-hundred years ago."
"But why does any of this have to do with me?" Amy asked as she was now sitting down on the edge of the bed with her hands together on her lap.
Madam Vulga didn't look up to answer now making the picture change to what looked to be a green furred hedgehog that was standing in front of a large army of beasts. His smile was twisted and his blue eyes stared directly at Amy as he began to laugh a wicked laugh. "This is King Scourge. He was once a normal citizen living in poverty till he was fed up with so much abuse, and ridicule that he had ventured out of the kingdom and into the Forbidden Land. There he was able to reach the place where the hero had sealed away the evil king. A sword was placed where the hero had trapped the beast, never to be taken again for if anyone had dared to touch the sword, they would die instantly. But Scourge was a very cruel and wise hedgehog. He had gripped the sword with his bare hands and pulled it out before he was dead. The demon king had finally come back to life after it was released by this foolish boy."
The image showed Scourge holding what looked to be the sword the hero had used before, but was now colored in black with a hellish glow to it. "Before Scourge had fallen to death, he had pledged his loyalty to the demon king, asking for his help in destroying the land and taking it as his own for his the king. Agrid was very taken back at how much this boy was willing to give his life so easily. He granted his wish. Agrid had fused his entire body, power, and soul into Scourge's body giving him all the powers of the demon king. He was now King Scourge, ruler of the Forbidden Land. We have tried to send our best soldiers to fight, but sadly...they were unsuccessful."
The image showed Scourge in the middle of a large pile of dead bodies he had killed. The sight of mutilated and bloody corpses sent massive amount of chills down Amy's spine just by looking at the picture. Several of them were lying motionless on the ground without their heads. Some had their chests open with their organs laying out of their bodies and onto the ground. Shadow turned his head away from the picture. He didn't want to see any of his fellow comrades dead in front of him again. He remembered that he had instructed them to go out and find Scourge, then eliminate him for good. None of them returned to tell their story.. He still felt awful for sending them into a losing battle which he felt that their blood wasn't on Scourge's hands, but on his for sending them out. Madam Vulga waved her hand to change the picture to a small figure holding the same necklace that she held earlier along with the six floating orbs surrounding the figure.
"In order to rid the world of evil, and kill the new king of demons, you, miss Amy, shall go out and find the six chosen followers who are granted their power of their ancestors. Only you have the power to search and give them their abilities to aid in your quest." The orbs began to flow out of as the figure disappeared and the map of the world returned. The orbs landed on several parts of the land having them shine brightly to show where the chosen people are, "Shadow. Please come closer."
Doing as he was told, Shadow made his way over before stopping just on the edge of the map. He saw how huge the land is with different parts to explore. Some of the places he had ventured before, but a few where the orbs are glowing, he had never been to so this might be interesting to say the least. Madam Vulga began to instruct as each orb she calls out shines brightly. "The first element. Light. You will find the chosen wielder in the castle ruins. Next is fire. There you will venture to the Ebit Volcano, a chosen weirder has been kidnapped and kept there for dead. Earth is in Treewood Forest. Water is hidden inside the waterfall near the town of Balem. Wind is found in the desert. Lastly, electricity will be hidden in the cold mountains of Everglades. Find all six elements, and you will have what you need to strike down Scourge once and for all."
Both Amy and Shadow watched very closely as each power they'll find were in places that looked pretty dangerous and tough to get to. She looked up at the old crow now feeling terrified of what her mission shall be. "Um...Madam Vulga, is it? I'm sorry, but...I don't know if I'm capable of doing this. I never did anything big to make me a hero. I'm just a nervous wreck waiting to happen." she protested. Madam Vulga nodded.
"I understand. But that is why I asked for the bravest and strongest knight to assist you." she pointed out as her cane finally stopped glowing making the map in front of them disappear.
"So you want me to go out with some girl who is not capable of fighting?" Shadow asked with a bit of an irritated tone in his voice. Amy looked back to him feeling sad, angry, and guilt since he was right about not able to fight.
Madam Vulga sighed. "Sir Shadow. I understand how you must be feeling right now. But if you wish for another day of your friends and loved ones to see the sun again, then you must join miss Amy in order to bring peace to the world. Only you can help her on her way." Shadow glared angrily at the mage.
"I do wish for my world to return to it's prosperity, but I never imagined to be with a weak girl like her." he growled making Amy shrink down a bit.
"Sir Shadow." The king finally spoke up again after both he, and Lida had been listening and watching very closely in the background, "Do not make this harder than it already is for her. Miss Amy Rose is here to save us, but she needs you to be there to help her. But if she is interested, maybe you could show her how to fight along the way."
Shadow glared back at the king, which wasn't the right choice, but Aldar knew why and didn't really care to discipline him more. He knew very well that Shadow was a lone knight and doesn't like to be in teams, or even around one person for long periods of times. Hopefully this will change him for the better. The black knight stared at him for a good few seconds before turning away and crossing his arms over his chest, head down, and eyes closed. "Very well...but I will not tolerate any sort of complaint at all." he grumbled.
"Then it's settled." Madam Vulga declared. Amy quickly stood up from the bed now fed up with all of this.
"No! It's not!" she shouted making everyone stare at her surprised, "First I was living my normal, boring life, and then I get sucked here by literal force, and now I'm also forced to go on some weird adventure with a rude hedgehog and find some ancient power in six different people? There's no way in hell I'm doing any of this! I wanna go home right now!" After she finally finished her rant, her voice began to crack as a few tears slowly began to fall down her cheeks. All of this was so new and abrupt that it was taking a massive toll onto her, almost breaking her fully.
"Who's being rude, now?" Shadow quipped now looking up to glare back at her after hearing that little remark towards him.
Madam Vulga sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, my dear. But I cannot bring you back home." she said sadly.
Amy glared at her. "Why not? You brought me here! You can take me back!" The crow shook her head again.
"It's not that easy, miss Amy. I did bring you here, but it took a great deal of magic, and energy to send you here. I'm afraid that you are to remain here till I am able to help bring you home. But I would still hope and pray that you are able to go and find the-" she was cut off by another shout from the frantic female.
"-No! I'm not going through with this! I'm scared, I'm worried that I'm stuck here possibly forever, and I just want to be happy again!" Before any of them could say, or do anything, Amy immediately rushed out of the room after pushing past both Shadow and in between Aldar and Lida almost forcibly.
Aldar turned and rushed to the door and watched her run down the hall. "Miss! Wait!" he called out, but got no reply back from her once she turned the corner to run further into the castle.
Madam Vulga didn't shout, or try to do anything. She instead turned to the bed and picked up the necklace that was still on the blanket where Amy had dropped it. Shadow was pretty ticked that she had just pushed him hard, almost making him trip over himself as he was stepping backwards a bit, tho he did kind of understood how this girl was taking so much in, that she was on the verge of a breakdown. Lida stood her grounds once she had rushed past her, after she ran out and Aldar after her till he stopped outside of the door, the queen calmly walked over to her husband and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look back to her. "I'll go after her. You stay here and help Madam Vulga make a map for the two." she smiled softly showing him that she had everything under slowly nodded, then gave her a small kiss on her lips before walking back into the bedroom while Lida went off to find Amy. Even though it was a big castle, she had a hunch of where she might've ran off to. Even if she never been here before.
Running as fast as she can, practically shoving anyone out of the way by force if she had to, Amy continued her way down each hallway she had taken. Not even knowing where she was going. She just needed to get away from what she was told. She didn't want to do anything so dangerous and frightening. All she wanted was the return home and live her pathetic life till she grew old, live alone, and die alone. It's what she was practically good at anyways, so why change it? Amy ran as fast and far as she could till she was pushed her way through another set of doors after rushing through door after door on her way here. She had to stop to take a breath, so this room could be a good hiding place till she could think of what to do to get herself back home.
She closed the double doors and leaned her back against them now able to breathe heavily from the long run. Her tears continued to fall rapidly, she couldn't hold herself back anymore. This place was so strange to her, and hearing that she can't go back home for a long while, tore her up greatly. She wanted to get back home so she could at least be in the same era where her parents are. She didn't want to leave them in the first place, so that old lady brought her there by force, away from her home. She wondered if anyone back home even knew where she was. Her work must be calling her phone that she had left behind once she was taken here. Her school must be wondering where their lost student is since she did leave before it was even finished for the day. She also wondered if Adran...
Amy's eyes slowly opened once his name finally came to her mind. After being here for so long, she had completely forgotten about Adran. Why did she have to think of that bastard's name at a time like this? Surly he wasn't too interested, or even worried for her for that matter. So why would she even think of him to begin with...? Her eyes looked further up to finally see where she had pushed herself into. It was a long hallway that had many paintings on each side of the walls. Each painting had what looked to be the first king and queen reaching down to the recent couple on the far end. Amy pushed herself off the door and started her way down the hall to look at the pictures much closer. One painting after another, it seemed that this world, Celedane, had many kings and queens in their time. The kingdom had been around for several decades to have at least five leaders to rule over it.
One painting, however, caught the young lady's eyes. A painting was beside another that had the two lions she had met earlier, but this was a younger lioness. A beautiful princess that looked very similar to Aldar and Lida. The young lady in the picture was a small, petite girl with long, blond, curly hair just a few inches below her shoulders. Her eyes were the color of the blue sky and her smile was so sweet, that if an angry person had seen her smile, they would immediately smile right back have no care at all. She wore a bright, blue dress with with a big skirt full of tule and silk flowers sewn on the ends of the skirt with a few trailing up the skirt in a triangle shape. Her bodice was a light blue color like the skirt with a lace ribbon, stitched from the bottom up to the top of her v-neck collar. Her sleeves were a little puffy made of tule and the same light blue color, the sleeves went down to her elbows, she also had white, satin, gloves that went up to her wrists. Lastly was her gold tiara full of sapphires and diamonds that was perfectly fitted on the top of her head.
Amy had never seen such a beautiful princess before. She might've seen some on the internet, but she was very pretty and looked to be a very sweet girl from the look of that smile. "Wow...who is this princess?" she wondered out loud.
"That is my daughter. Princess Maria." Amy jumped the second she heard someone beside her, she turned around and saw Lida walking calmly over to her with her hands held together in front of her. Her smile was very similar to the princess.
"Whoa! How did you get in here so quietly?" Amy gawked as she stepped a few steps back getting ready to run again if she needed to.
Lida chuckled quietly. "I have my ways, little one. And I knew you'd be here. This is where I would come to relax as well." she noted. She stopped right in front of the picture to look up at her daughter. She still held that king smile, but her eyes seemed to have a different look to them, "Isn't she beautiful? She was a wonderful person and loved this kingdom very much."
Amy stared at her for a few seconds to make sure she wasn't gonna jump at her to catch her. Finally relaxing her body to stand straight again, she looked back at the picture and said, "I've never seen a real princess picture like this before. ...Wait. Was?" she turned back to the queen once she realized what she had said about her.
The queen nodded, then turned away to look back at Amy. "This picture was painted just a few months before her death." she started, "She was very eager to rule the land. She was very close to achieving her goal...but once Scourge had gained all the powers of the demon king...he had attacked the kingdom out of vengeance. We were not prepared and had lost many in battle. The king demanded for an evacuation, but we all decided to fight for our home. Maria wanted to fight for her kingdom and had done her best...but..." her eyes began to water feeling uneasy to finish anymore.
The young rose didn't realize how someone that looked very innocent, could try and fight her home. She didn't look to be a fighter, but from what the queen had said, she still fought to save her people and home, yet went down with the rest of the fallen victims. It must've been hard for her to cope, losing her only child so quickly. She felt the same when her parents had died and left her alone. The king and queen must've had a hard time after her loss, but from the looks of it, they seemed to have the kingdom grow more and more stronger than before. If only she could feel the strength they had. Amy felt so alone and so lost, that she had almost given up a few times in her life. Even to the point of suicide.
"...I...I'm sorry..." Amy whimpered not even realizing that she had begun to cry again till she had spoke up, "I'm sorry..I didn't mean to be so rude...I'm scared.. I lost my parents when I was thirteen.. I've been so alone...I don't have the strength you have... I just wanna go home...I can't fight, I can't handle frighting things...I just-" her cries were stopped once she felt warm arms around her body. She opened her eyes to see that Lida had come over and pulled her in a gentle embrace. It felt so..familiar.
"It's alright, dear. I know how scared you are. We all are. But I will tell you one thing that being afraid is not a bad thing." Lida said in her soothing voice. Her hand was now on Amy's head, gently stroking her quills in a loving way a mother would do, "I don't see you as weak. You are more like my daughter than you realize. You are strong, you are brave. I know you can handle many hardships that come your way. It's alright to be scared."
Amy couldn't say anything after that. All she did was return the hug more tightly and covered her face in the queen's chest to quietly sob. She really missed this feeling of a warm embrace, even if it was a different person, it still felt like her mother was holding her again. Maybe this was what she really needed instead of some pep talk. Lida knew how much she was struggling and figured this would sooth her much better. She was scared and needed to be held again, like a frightened, little child. She continued to hold her tightly while brushing her fingers down her quills, being careful to not pull too hard. Miraculously, it had worked to calm the young flower down. It really was what she desperately needed and was happy to see that it had worked.
She slowly pulled away to look up at the queen, who was smiling down at her. "I'm truly sorry that you have come here for our selfish needs. And I know how frightened you are of this mission, and I do not want to force you at all...but...please? I'm not ordering you...I only want to ask if you are willing to try for us." she asked in a hopeful, but kind way. Her hand that was on her head went to her face and delicately wiped any tears that were left on her cheeks.
Amy really wanted to say now. She desperately wanted to say no. But the queen was very kind to push her in a motherly way to help her. It was a very scary task for her to even accomplish. Shadow was told to be there to help her and the journey will be very tough, but she would feel very guilty if she had let a kingdom, or the world go to ruins because she was too scared to do anything. If princess Maria can fight for her kingdom, then she will try her hardest to fight for their home. She moved her head back onto the queen's chest and held her tightly, just wanting to be in a "mother's embrace" a little while longer. "...I'll do it. I'll help you." she mumbled.
Lida smiled happily and squeezed her tighter. "Thank you so much..we are all in your debt." she whispered while giving her a little more time to calm herself. She continued to stroke her quills lovingly, and even gave her a comforting kiss on her head, something that small was able to bring a tiny smile to the frail rose's face. Unbeknownst to the queen and Amy, an eavesdropping black knight was by the door where they both had used to enter the room. His ruby eyes fell on the two as he listened and watched closely to see how frightened Amy was till she was held by the queen. Inside, he felt ashamed to be cruel to her at first, he still wasn't okay with being a bodyguard for her, but he didn't want to let her, his king and queen, and home down. ...He didn't want to let his princess down. Not again.