AN: Finally! It makes me sad that this story is soon coming to an end but it was a fun month-long project that I never finished editing and I'm glad I can close this out for you all. Thanks so much to everyone who read as this is the first end to a fic that I'm satisfied with. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you at the end! :D

One Thousand Pages

Only moments from being consumed, Sonic found himself backed into a corner on top of a dressing table in a last-ditch effort to survive. Luckily for him, it worked. He was left wondering where the black sand had suddenly gone. Around him, the Creeping Chaos had eaten away the wood so that there was hardly a skeleton of the airboat left. He dodged the parts of the airboat that were falling apart and headed back up to the deck which was mostly eaten away.

There he found Blaze on the remains. When the section of the boat she was in had been overrun, she used her levitation to carry the little rabbit girl, both of Sonic's children, Antoine, and as many guards as possible up high away from their imminent deaths. She looked exhausted but in good spirits. Beside her was an unconscious Shadow. He was in bad shape. His arms and legs looked like he had suffered serious burns. His shoes and gloves were gone and the fur on his limbs seemed to have been singed away. This must be the effect of the Creeping-Chaos. He asked Blaze and Antoine if they saw his wife. They both shook their heads grimly. Last they saw them was before the black sand had struck the boat. Sonic then asked his kids who were just as unsure. They said she told them to find Blaze or Antoine, so they could defend them before she disappeared. Sonic feared the worst.

For another twenty minutes, he scoured what remained of the interior of the ship. He was heart-stricken to find only two more people amongst the wreckage. They were Wave and Predator Hawk. The former was in tears. Sonic didn't bother asking why considering the absence of the large albatross. Storm had not made it. He defended Wave with his life as he was destined to do.

Sonic frowned. Where was Sally?

With everyone gathered on the unstable deck of the airboat, Sonic figured they should head toward the barrier and figure out their next course of action. Sonic was confused and afraid for the fate of his wife, but he couldn't afford to be selfish with all the lives he now held himself responsible for protecting. He would not yet shed a tear.

Everyone gathered near the barrier. The surrounding sand was no longer white and the black of the Creeping-Chaos was nowhere in sight. It was a comforting sign. But did that mean it was over?

Sonic held Shadow in his arms as he inspected the bizarre sight. Before it was transparent, fully invisible. But now the surface of the barrier was a perfect mirror finish, sharply reflecting the area around it. It was also tall, extending high into the sky until the blue reflection merged with the real blue of the sky.

Sonic looked at his reflection. He looked tired, which was unsurprising. Blaze approached next and touched the surface. It was permeable. Fearlessly she stepped through and disappeared completely. Sonic looked back to the group. He shrugged as if to ask where she went before Blaze partially walked back through. Her disembodied head floated beside its reflection. She stuck a hand through and gestured them to follow her. When Sonic stepped through, he was left speechless at the view.

Never in Sonic's life had he seen so much green in one place. It wasn't the shimmering green of an emerald, but the deep rich green of life. Sonic heard the gasps and whispers behind him as the rest filed through the barrier. Grass shuffled beneath their feet as they took cautious steps forward. Sometime between the Creeping-Chaos taking over the ship and Sonic almost being killed, an entire jungle seemed to erect itself here. Trees twice as high as an airboat was long, dotted the area. Their massive leaves shaded the area below from the cruel rays of the sun that still shone through the barrier. Butterflies and bugs danced on their leaves and the leaves of the thick brush guiding their path. Sonic looked at both his children and shared a smile with them. He could tell they were worried for Sally, but Sonic assured them that soon this would all be figured out.

In the center of all the new life, there was a spiraling monument, wooden in construction. Not mobian-made from manufactured planks, but from the plants themselves. They wound up and intertwined until they came to a point. A single mariposa lily sitting at the top. Within the monument was a wide winding staircase that led downward, deep into the earth. It was made by the same plant architecture as the monument. The descent was lit by the bodies of fireflies who shone brighter than the lights of a torch.

There were bookshelves upon bookshelves on each level of the descent. The group briefly stopped and pulled one of the thousands of books that seemed to be on a level. Each book did not have the typical all-encompassing title of the book, but instead a name. On this level, all the names seemed to begin with the letter 'A.' The next floor 'B' and then 'C' and so on.

When they reached the bottom-most floor, just below the 'Z' level, the architecture of the sanctuary slowly transitioned from being fully composed of plant life to a style that united the natural and the mobian-made.

The branch-like floors, walls, and steps gave way to a pristine marble corridor still illuminated brightly by the fireflies. The walls were a perfectly chiseled and polished white marble splintered with black. They rose up high to a similarly colored ceiling. The floor was a bizarre jade marble tiling polished to nearly a mirror finish and lined with gold filigree.

This was very grand, but Sonic thought it bizarre for something like this—which must have required the skill of a master—to be hidden 27 stories beneath the ground. What would be worthy of such a private honor?

Through the marble hallway, they spotted the remaining members of their group. It was Cosmo sitting on a wide stone pedestal who held a still sleeping Tails' head in her lap.

One hand stroked through his bouncing bangs while the other held his hand. His eyes opened gently. He smiled quietly when he noticed who it was that held him so softly. He lifted his head and Cosmo leaned downward to meet it. They closed their eyes and pressed their lips to one another.

The group allowed them their moment before stepping forward and making their presence known. The two lovers scrambled when the rest of the group came.

Sonic smiled at the display, but it quickly saddened him, only reminding him of Sally. Tails stood from where he lied on the pedestal.

He asked the painful question, "Did everyone survive?"

Sonic looked down at Shadow who he still held in his hands. He tried to resist but could not stop the defiant tear from running down the side of his face as he shook his head. Sonic was hoping they knew the answer to that question. It was obvious now that Sally was gone. Murdered by the black sand.

Cosmo approached the weeping king and the injured warrior. She placed a hand on each of their faces. She told them to follow and gestured them forward down to the end of the final corridor. She did notice Jet's absence which gave her a lump in her throat, but she did not want to be selfish. Everyone else was suffering too.

Beyond the pedestal in the hall, there was a single room concealed behind two sizable doors. When the group worked together to open them, they spotted a single hedgehog. He was sat in the center of a massive circular room surrounded by individual sheets of blank paper. His silvery fur shimmered a bright blue as he placed a finger onto one of the pages.

From an open chamber in the ceiling came pens. Thousands of pens coated in the same blue energy as the hedgehog himself. They drifted rhythmically, almost dancing, toward the pages below and began to inscribe them with ink, shaped in the legible runes of their language. In seconds, the hundreds of blank pages were filled on both sides before gathering into a single pile. The pens quickly returned to their chamber above like ants to a colony and a book cover levitated toward the stack of papers before enveloping them.

The silver hedgehog snapped his fingers and in a flash of blue light, the cover was fused with the pages. He stood, dusting the book off and gently cast the hovering book in Tails' direction. Tails reached out and grabbed it. It was still warm with the energy used to create it.

"Miles 'Tails' Prower," Tails said reading the cover of the book.

"That belongs to you now," the silver hedgehog said before addressing the group. When he faced them fully and approached, they could see that he wore a white cloth over his eyes. He was blind.

He then addressed the group, "I already know of the losses you've incurred to bring Tails to me and for that, I thank you but know this. Hope is not lost."

"Why did you need Tails specifically?" Sonic asked.

"He was the catalyst," the hedgehog said walking forward and grabbing Shadow from Sonic's arms.

Upon hearing that Tails was the cause of all her pain, Wave grabbed the fox around his neck and pointed her gun to his head. She knew that Sonic couldn't stop a point-blank bullet.

"Wave! What are you doi—"

"So, it was him!" the swallow yelled through fresh falling tears, "He caused all of this death! All of this heartbreak…! He's the reason Jet and Storm are dead!"

Tails was crushed. He heard from Cosmo that they were saved by Jet and Shadow, but he did not know that the hawk gave his life to do so. His mind was fogged by fatigue and he didn't notice the hawk's absence. In the back of his mind, Tails assumed that Jet would be fine. He had already been through so much, Tails figured he'd make it through this too. Clearly his assumption was wrong. Though fear of him being shot had gripped him, his mind was with Jet. Cosmo felt especially guilty.

It was because of her weakness that he was devoured, Cosmo thought.

"This isn't the way to fix this Wave! If Tails caused this why would he help bring it to an end?" Sonic said still trying to piece this together.

"That doesn't matter! That hedgehog said that he was the catalyst!"

"That hedgehog's name is Silver," Silver said, "And yes, he is the catalyst, but he is far from the person to blame."

"How do I know you aren't just posturing for this fox's sake?!"

"Because I know that Jet and Storm were cursed individuals just like Tails. They both could have accidentally released the black sand just like he did. They were lucky to receive the relatively mild curses they did."

Wave's eyes shot open in disbelief, "How could you possibly know that?"

"I know a lot, more than most people anyway. That is why I write these books. They are the stories of the individuals that are peppered across the world. And I also know that Jet and Storm's stories have not yet ended."

Wave bit down in frustration. She threw her gun to the ground and loosened her grip on Tails. Her tears still came in powerful streams, but she was willing to listen to Silver.

"What do you mean?"

Instead of providing a direct explanation, he gestured them to follow him to the purely nature-made part of the sanctuary at the opposite end of the corridor. He glided his fingertips on the bark of the walls and said, "Touch the walls and imagine where within the Sanctuary you'd like to be. Then the roots of the trees above will make you a portal there. Follow me to the Garden. At the very top."

Silver was the first to walk through with Shadow, but the last to appear in the Garden with two books in hand.

"Where is Shadow," Tails asks noting the hedgehog's disappearance.

"Safe. He is on the Floor of I. 'I' for 'infirmary,'" Silver responded simply.

He handed two books to Wave. They read: Jet the Hawk and Storm the Albatross.

Her tears halted for the moment as she read them. She opened Storm's book and skipped to the last page. It was blank as was more than seventy percent of the book. She then looked in Jet's book. It was a similar case.

She slammed the book closed in frustration, "What does this mean? Almost all of the pages are blank."

"It means that their stories have not yet ended. We are all born with a certain number of pages. Unfortunately, we are not all given the same amount. Luckily, your friends have quite a bit of life ahead of them. As do you, Tails."

Wave looked back down at the books in her hands and pressed them to her chest, hugging them.

"Is there a book for my wife?" Sonic asked holding the hands of his children. "She…she disappeared in the chaos and I need to know…"

"What is her name?"

"Sally Acorn," Sonic said desperately.

Silver disappeared through the wall but quickly reemerged. He held Sally's book. Sonic took it nervously. By flipping through these pages, he would learn two things, if his wife were still alive and about how long she'd continue living. He opened the book and was happy to learn that it had not yet concluded. What troubled him, though, was that only the last two pages remained blank. Two of over four hundred pages in her book. Sonic did know what this meant, but he kept it to himself as not to worry his children.

"So…she's alive, but where is she then?"

"Before I explain you must understand that the black sand does not consume. It transports. Every living thing it takes becomes part of its collection in a different zone called the Summoning Zone. It is a zone unreachable by normal means such as warp-rings."

"Then how do you explain Shadow's injuries?" Tails asked.

"I never said that the black sand did not harm its victims. It simply does not kill them," Silver said not bothering to sugarcoat the explanation.

The hope that was building for the group was suddenly crushed. Their loved ones were still alive, but there was no telling if they had morphed into horrible creatures or been marred beyond recognition.

Silver continued, "For individuals who do not suffer from a curse, they are simply kept in the Summoning Zone like trophies, but those who were cursed will act as henchmen."

"Then Jet and Storm's minds will be under the Creeping-Chaos' control?" Wave asked.

Silver nodded, "You are partially correct. The black sand, what you call the Creeping-Chaos, was constructed by the creator of the Summoning Zone. Whoever they are is who will control them."

Tails was getting dizzy listening to Silver's explanation, so he took a seat in the grass.

"Then how can we save the Queen?" Antoine questioned, trying to get to the point of Sonic's question.

"There is only one way. We must release the black sand again," Silver said grimly.

"I told you already: he just called himself the Prophet. Other than that, I just know that he wants to help us," Tails explained to Predator Hawk who was endlessly questioning him.

They were in the infirmary keeping Shadow company or annoying him in P. Hawk's case.

"Yeah but, who is he, though?" Predator Hawk said rubbing his temples imagining the strength that Silver might hold.

"Why don't you just ask him yourself," Tails suggested.

"I don't trust'em. He obviously has some serious power; I mean, look what he did with the book. Why couldn't someone like him just stop the Creeping-Chaos himself? Plus, how the hell did he know all of that stuff, huh?"

Cosmo waited patiently as the two spoke but was getting impatient with Predator Hawk's repetitive questions.

"Hey, do you mind if I speak with Tails a minute…? In private I mean," Cosmo asked politely.

Predator Hawk raised an eyebrow as he remembered Tails' and Cosmo's kiss two days ago, "Ohh, I see. Alright, I'll let the love birds do all the smooching they want."

He got up and promptly left.

"Do I have to go too?" Shadow asked awkwardly ready to leave his bed.

"Nonononono," Tails clarified as the pink of his blush began to show on his muzzle, "We're not planning on doing anything weird. We just wanted to fill you in."

And fill him in they did.

"So, you and Cosmo were the causes of all this, huh?" Shadow asked.

"Y-yes…"

"And you lied about there being Emeralds here, so I wouldn't go off and get eaten by the Creeping-Chaos?"

"Yeah…"

Shadow wound back and punched Tails as hard as he could from his laying position. It landed on the fox's arm. Tails yelped in pain.

"I'm not an idiot, you know! I would have been alright on my own out there and I might've been able to leave the zone entirely! If I didn't stick with you, that crazy swallow wouldn't have captured me, either."

Cosmo winced at the punch. She was against the violence, but she did believe the punishment was warranted. Tails told too many lies during this journey and she still needed to question him on one of them.

"Why didn't you tell me about the origin of the Creeping-Chaos earlier, Tails?" Cosmo asked not allowing Tails the proper time to recover from his new injury.

"I…I didn't want you to burden that pain. That responsibility of thinking you killed the other nomads. When you told me, you had no clue what had happened in the last few hours, I figured it would be better if you just didn't know how it started. That…and I didn't want us to become a target. The Creeping-Chaos popped up so suddenly. If two strangers started telling everyone every little detail of the Creeping-Chaos, that would've been suspicious don't you think?"

Cosmo pursed her lips not exactly satisfied with that explanation.

"We'll talk more about it later. Anyway, Shadow. I never got the chance to thank you. You and Jet were the reason we got rid of the Creeping-Chaos. Who knows what would have happened if you didn't get us past."

Shadow shrugged, "It was nothing. Better than waiting around thinking that you're gonna die."

Shadow thought about the annoying green hawk. He gained a new respect for him and soon he'd rescue him from the Summoning Zone, but first, he had a job to do. Shadow stood. It still hurt a bit to walk, but he was fine for the most part. He walked across the room and slipped his jacket back on. Parts of the sleeves had been eaten up by the Creeping-Chaos, but he thought it made it look better anyway.

Tails watched him as he did so, seeing again the plus symbol on Shadow's back.

"I never asked you what that symbol meant, Shadow," Tails said.

"You mean the plus sign? It's the symbol of the Zone Restoration Committee or ZRC for short," Shadow explained.

"Zone Restoration Committee?"

"When catastrophic events take place, the ZRC moves in and attempts to fix the issue and restore balance to the Zone."

"Woah…Then they should know about something like this, right?"

"Exactly. Where do you think I'm headed? To the candy store? They need to know about this."

"…What about Rouge…?"

"She's strong. She can hold on for a bit longer, I think."

"Have you thought about checking her book, you know in the library…?"

"Screw that book. I'll make sure she lives no matter what," Shadow said heading out of the infirmary, "I'm off."

"Already?!" Tails asked. Shadow's injuries were nowhere near healed.

"Yeah, I'll grab a few things, eat, then I'm gone," Shadow said with a wave and not a smirk but a smile across his face.

Cream snuck away during the night and climbed to two floors in the Sanctuary. The Floor of C and The Floor of V. And on those floors, she grabbed two books. She tucked herself away in a corner of the Garden and first opened Vanilla the Rabbit. It was a bit more than 3/4ths as thick as Cream's book and about half full. Cream smiled and giggled to herself. She hugged her mothers' book tightly knowing that she was still out there .

She then opened her book: Cream the Rabbit. The book was long, there were one thousand pages and only sixty-five were filled. Cream would live a long while.

"You know," Silver began almost scaring the fur off the poor rabbit, "They say anyone with exactly one thousand pages is destined to be a very important person."

"Really?" Cream asked staring at her book in awe disregarding the fact that Silver seemed to materialize from nowhere.

He nodded smiling. He sat in the grass beside her and four books levitated into his grip.

"All of these books tell my story. They are all one thousand pages long. I was very lucky."

A fifth book levitated towards Cream and she grabbed it softly from the air. Like the others, it read Silver the Hedgehog, but this one was very thin. She opened it, skipped to the end, and looked at the number of pages. There were only one hundred pages total and of them, ninety-nine were filled. She looked at Silver sadly. But he told her to smile instead.

"My story is almost over, little one, and I want you to help me write the last page."

Until the Next Book…

AN:

Dear Reader,

Finally these ending lines makes sense. But yeah I'm super hyped that this one is C-C-Complete! This was a tiring story to write trying to keep things make sense chronologically while also introducing characters and making the characters feel genuine.

I feel that I have the tendency to "over write" as in write much more that I need to have a point come across to the audience, but I feel that I didn't too much of that this time around. I let the audience's imagination roam a bit like mine did while writing and I think that's half the fun of reading fics; imagining the scenarios by filling them with things you'd imagine to be there instead of someone drawing out the entire picture for you.

I guess this is just a long winded thanks from me :D. My schedule is pretty school oriented at the moment, but I don't plan to stop writing any time soon.

Yours,
The most inconsistent writer on this website.

P.S.: The upload spam is over!