"Hey, I found something!" A G.U.N. agent yelled out, summoning everyone to her. The Sonic Team had been searching for Isaac the past two months, covering as much ground as possible! Sonic and Shadow were running in grid patterns to cover as much ground as possible, while the rest of the Sonic Team were sweeping from the South end of the Great Forest. But now, they had a break in their search, having finally gotten to the abandoned ruins of the Abaddon Homestead!
"Is it Isaac?!" Lily called out, running to the agent near the standing wall. She shook her head, disgust plastered onto her face.
"No, but I think he's been through here." She answered, the Sonic Team running over. To their horror, they saw the remains of Talion, the extinct Order's 'Archangel', impaled into the wall with his glider! His face had been decayed to the point where he couldn't be recognized, only a skull with bits of cartilage and tendon remaining.
"I'll give it to Princess Sally's boyfriend; when he kills someone, he doesn't let mercy get in his way." The agent observed.
"Fiancé. As soon as we find him, they're getting married!" Lily corrected.
"Alright, well, if Isaac killed this guy, then where would that take him?" Knuckles asked, not quite knowing where to start. While Knuckles was an expert tracker, it would near be impossible to track a two-month-old head start. Lily put her hand to the ground, closing her eyes. Soon, she opened them, glowing brightly! She saw a shade of her brother running from the scene, heading North.
"Quick, he went this way!" Lily exclaimed, running after the shade of her brother's movements. The others followed, Lily leading the way! Amy stayed back a bit, seeing the agent speaking into a radio.
"Hey, aren't you coming?" Amy asked. The agent shook her head, pointing to her radio.
"G.U.N. is going to want to get here to salvage this tech! This could prove to be very useful!" She said, before resuming to talk into her radio, Amy running after the others. After a few miles, Lily slowed down, still seeing the shade of her brother.
"He began slowing down, almost as if he was exhausted! The fight probably took a lot out of him. He was walking… before he began looking around wildly." Lily explained, seeing the shade of her brother looking everywhere.
She couldn't see what Isaac was seeing, but by the expression on his face, he was confused at he was seeing. As he was walking, she could see he was shouting something, before falling down the first time.
"He was shouting, before falling down. After a while, he got back up, and began stumbling. I think he hurt his legs somewhere." Lily analyzed, still following the shade. After a while, the shade of Isaac soon stopped, staring at a tree. Almost in a trance, the shade picked up something, it being invisible to Lily, and was aiming it towards his chest.
"Isaac was crying, almost in pain! He… was aiming something into his chest! But wait… someone stopped him!" Lily said, seeing the shade of Isaac's rescuer running out, wrestling the object out of his hand. Isaac momentarily looked at his rescuer, before collapsing. The other shade turned Isaac onto his back, before dragging him away.
"Someone dragged Isaac from here, probably to help him. We're so close, I can feel it!" Lily exclaimed, running after the other shade!
The Cabin:
It had been two days since Isaac had awoken from his coma, his strength still returning to him. It was painful for Isaac to walk unaided, so he took to walking with a staff to offset some of the pressure on his legs. Isaac was changing into new clothes, having had the chance to take a bath, unable to have done so while unconcious. As Isaac dressed, he saw himself in the mirror, drastically different than he was only two months ago. His restricted eating left his body to starve somewhat, losing a good amount of his muscle mass. He was very thin, his ribcage gently poking from his skin. While Isaac didn't look close to being starved, his appearance was well on its way.
He couldn't eat very much anymore; his stomach having shrunk. He could only take in a small amount of food at a time, knowing that eating too much could cause him to eat himself to death. Once he would get back to the Kingdom, he knew he would need a doctor to help him put on weight. After lacing his boots, Isaac walked out from his room, feeling his legs burning. Rosy and Scourge were sitting on the couch in front of the fire, Rosy resting her head onto his shoulder. Scourge was reading from a book, an arm around Rosy, not paying any attention to anything around him.
Isaac grabbed the walking stick outside of his door, using it to walk himself outside. Isaac had been doing this for the past two days, waiting for the next caravan to come by and take him home. So far, nothing came, Isaac becoming concerned. Of course, Isaac had entertained the idea of walking himself back. While it would take longer than normal, he might just be able to make it there in a week. As Isaac stood on the porch, he took in the early afternoon weather.
"I wonder what Lily's doing right now." Isaac wondered aloud, believing that she might just still be in Central City. Stretching out his back, Isaac stepped off the porch, deciding to walk a bit North to stretch out his legs. As Isaac walked, he felt the pain in his legs, which soon receded after a few minutes. His muscles began to get used to the walk, allowing him to walk in moderate comfort.
As Isaac was walking, the Sonic Team soon ran towards the cabin, Lily leading them! She stopped, seeing the shade disappear near the porch of the cabin. Lily studied the home, recognizing it! She now knew who had helped her brother!
"Guys, Isaac's inside! We found him!" Lily exclaimed, running onto the porch, pounding on the door! After a few moments, the door cracked open, Rosy peeking out from the opening. She looked down, seeing Lily. Rosy smiled widely, before opening the door all the way.
"Lily!" Rosy exclaimed, before Lily quickly leaped up and hugged her! She was holding onto her tightly, refusing to let go!
"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lily repeated.
"Thank you? For what?" Rosy asked, unsure of what she meant.
"You saved Isaac! Is he here?!" Lily exclaimed. Rosy looked around, before seeing the Sonic Team, feeling the color run from her face.
"I… I think he stepped out for a walk. Listen, Isaac will be back very soon! So… how about you all come inside?" Rosy offered.
The Sonic Team walked inside, eyeing the pink hedgehog. They could almost recognize her, but it was a very faint feeling. Amy was the last one to go inside, stopping and staring at Rosy.
"Do I know you? You remind me of someone I know, but I can't figure it out." Amy asked. Rosy was nervous, not really wanting the Sonic Team to figure her out.
"I just have one of those faces, you know. Here, come inside! Can I give you something to drink? Something to eat?" She offered. Amy shook her head, still unable to shake the feeling she knew her.
The Sonic Team filled the kitchen, before stepping into the Living Room. There, they saw Scourge, but they themselves weren't sure it was him. His quills were trimmed down, he was dressed neatly, and he didn't even pay any attention to them. Rosy cleared her throat, causing Scourge to look towards her, finally noticing the Sonic Team, his face becoming very pale!
"We have a few visitors, dear. They're here to see Isaac." Rosy said, trying to make herself seem less suspicious.
Scourge got up from his seat, clearing his throat.
"Of course. If any of you want to sit down, by all means, do so." Scourge offered, intentionally making his voice deeper to not tip them off.
"I swear, are you sure we don't know any of you from somewhere?" Amy asked, really feeling as if they knew them.
"Can't say we do." Scourge answered.
"What're your names?" Knuckles asked.
"Sc… Scott." Scourge lied.
"I'm Ros… Roseanne." Rosy lied.
"Scott and Roseanne… can't say I know those names." Knuckles said, sitting down near the fire. Scourge and Rosy breathed a silent sigh of relief, not wanting to be made out by their former enemies.
Castle Acorn:
Sally was with Rouge, Vanilla, and Cream, herself nervous that Sonic and the others haven't called back with an update. She was showing in her pregnancy, herself having to resort to wearing sweatpants to accommodate for her stomach increasing in size. She was sitting in the Common Room, lying down on couch, her foot tapping against the opposite armrest. Her hair was dyed back to her auburn color, having relocated from Central City only a few weeks ago. Rouge was sitting calmly, herself on her new phone, while Cream and Vanilla playing a boardgame.
"They should've called back! At least to say they're still searching, right?! Girls, I'm not feeling good about this!" Sally said, nervous about everything going on.
"That's just stress that's talking, Sally. And stress isn't good for the baby." Vanilla said. Sally took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Suddenly, they shot open, Sally quickly running from the couch into the Common Room's bathroom, vomiting into the toilet! After tossing her lunch, she flushed it and rinsed her mouth, walking back into the Common Room.
"Okay… I'm actually feeling a lot better now." Sally said, sitting down next to Rouge. She looked over to Rouge's phone, where she was going through a bunch of listings, mainly for baby items, like car seats and clothes. She caught Sally looking at her phone, quickly changing how she was sitting to hide her phone.
"Don't want to spoil your surprise, now do you?" Rouge asked.
"It'd be nice to know what you're getting us." Sally responded. Sighing, Rouge showed her the phone screen, going through the listings.
"Do you even know if it's a boy or a girl?" Rouge asked. Sally actually did know, but she wanted to wait until Isaac came back. She wanted to see the excitement in his eyes when she would announce to everyone the sex of their child!
"I know, but I'm just waiting for Isaac. I want him to be the first one to know, besides myself… and Lily." Sally answered.
"Wait, Lily already knows?!" Rouge asked, surprised by this.
"She came with me to my last appointment. I couldn't exactly forbid her from coming. This is her niece/nephew." Sally answered.
"Does King Nigel or Queen Alicia know yet?" Rouge asked.
"No… But they'll be excited, believe me!" Sally answered.
"That makes it harder for me to shop for you, you know. Although, it'd be pretty funny to get a whole wardrobe of pink clothes, only to end up dressing your baby boy in them." Rouge informed.
"Yellow's a pretty neutral color." Sally said. Rouge nodded a bit, at least having an idea of how to shop for them.
The Great Forest:
Isaac had been walking for the better part of an hour, his staff hitting the ground in tandem with his left foot. The trail was not new to Isaac, himself once having walked this exact trail once when he and Lily used to live with this land. Isaac, feeling his legs cry out for respite, walked himself to a large willow, sitting underneath it.
Isaac groaned, the muscles in his legs burning as if they were on fire. As Isaac rubbed his sore calves, the stone in his pocket began glowing, radiating through the material in his pants. Isaac took it out, untying the cloth. The stone was glowing brighter than when he had found it, a large ray of light exiting from it. It hit ten feet from him, a large, winged figure standing before him, wearing golden armor. The figure was seven foot, lean-built. Soon, it became clearer, revealing itself to be a male angel! He looked upon Isaac, showing a look of interest. Isaac was speechless, unable to speak!
"Hmm, the darkness inside of you is concerning… but you are Gloria's offspring, that is evident… though the mortal form she has chosen is not one I would have gone with." He said, showing he knew Isaac's mother.
"You're… you're a…" Isaac said, unable to form a sentence.
"An angel, yes. You do not know who I am, but I am Hochmael… you're Uncle." He revealed.
"You… you're my mother's brother?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. And I have seen the struggle within yourself. Your mind is still strong, but your body has failed you. And with the flesh failing, so does your powers." Hochmael answered. Isaac used his staff to pull himself back onto his feet, still speechless. Hochmael was smiling, noting his nephew's awestruck expression.
"Am I not like you have imagined?" He asked. Isaac shook his head, not really knowing what he could've expected. He didn't even know he had an uncle on either side of the family!
"Is this happening, or am I just hallucinating again?" Isaac asked. Hochmael began to chuckle, knowing that this was something to expect with mortals.
"This is real, my dear nephew. What you have in your hand is called a soul stone. Many of us in the Kingdom of Elohim use them to communicate with each other. Very much how you mortals use phones. The soul stone you possess once belonged to your mother." Hochmael explained.
Isaac looked at the soul stone in his hand, not understanding how this small rock could have such power. Isaac quickly put it to his chest, hoping for another blast of healing energy, but nothing had happened.
"I don't understand! Last time this thing activated; it had healed me somewhat. Why won't it do it now?" Isaac asked.
"Because the energy that was stored in it was your mother's. When we travel to Earth, which we used to do quite frequently, we would store small amounts of our energy so as to allow ourselves to have a reserve of emergency energy, in case we would need it. The energy reserved healed you, but there wasn't enough to restore your health." Hochmael explained.
"Can you heal me?" Isaac asked. Hochmael shook his head, gesturing towards himself.
"I am not physically present, my nephew. The soul stone is acting as a projector. I am in the Realm of the Kingdom of Elohim. I cannot heal you unless I were to cut through the realms to you." Hochmael explained. Suddenly, Isaac's eyes widened, realizing a possibility!
"If you are speaking from the Kingdom, then are my parents there?" Isaac asked. Hochmael cleared his throat, a look of discomfort on his face.
"I… I am sorry, Isaac. Neither of them are here… but they are not damned! I want to clarify that! As far as I know, they are still on Earth." Hochmael answered.
Isaac was confused, not seeing a possibility that they could still be in this mortal plane, since they were killed so many years ago! He buried their remains near their old homestead! But before he could ask anything else, the soul stone began flashing, Hochmael's projection beginning to fade.
"I am sorry, my nephew, but I must depart. Return back to the cabin. Your friends are waiting for you." Hochmael said, before vanishing completely.
"Wait! Where are my mother and father?! Where are they?!" Isaac asked, shaking the soul stone. No light came from the stone, only silence answered him. After a few moments, Isaac wrapped the soul stone in the cloth, putting it back into his pocket.
Isaac grabbed onto his staff, quickly running back to the cabin, only able to run in a hobbled state with the staff. Soon, Isaac saw the cabin coming up, Isaac's heart beating faster, knowing that he was finally going to be able to go home! Isaac quickly got himself onto the porch, using his staff to knock on the door. After a few moments, the door opened, Lily having answered it. She quickly looked up, seeing her brother looking down upon her. She quickly leaped up, wrapping her arms around his neck, crying! Isaac let go of his staff, holding onto his sister, feeling his lower back burning at the sudden change in weight. Isaac hobbled into the cabin, his friends quickly looking to where he entered.
They quickly got out of their seats, rushing over to him! They quickly hugged him, not believing that they would actually see him alive! After they got it out of their system, they let Isaac breathe, actually noticing Isaac was much thinner than when they had last seen him.
"Dang, what happened to you? You look like you're starving!" Knuckles asked.
"I fell into a coma for two months. It weren't for these two, I would've died from exposure long ago." Isaac answered, pointing towards Scourge and Rosy.
"A coma? How?" Amy asked. Isaac still wasn't sure. Everyone time he tried to remember; he could only remember as far back as to when he started experiencing hallucinations.
"I can't remember. But whatever it was, it caused hallucinations. And not the good kind. People I killed. Strange, floating dolls…. Yurani…" Isaac explained.
"You mean Harold? He's alive." Amy said. Isaac's eyes widened, finding that to be impossible!
"What?! No, that's impossible! I was told he was killed during the raid!" Isaac responded.
"I mean, technically, he was, but they were able to revive him. He's alive and well back home!" Amy explained.
"This entire time, he's been alive? And I've been feeling guilty about his death for four months?!" Isaac asked. Amy nodded, a wave of relief flowing through Isaac.
"Enough about Harold! Who was the Archangel?!" Knuckles asked, wanting to know his identity. Isaac couldn't remember the identity of the Order's super soldier, but… he had a feeling it was someone he knew. Someone he considered a friend.
"I… believe it was someone I knew. Someone the Order had manipulated to become their weapon of vengeance. I can't exactly remember, but… I wish their death wouldn't have become a reality." Isaac answered.
Amy quickly brought up her communicator, speaking into it.
"Tails, Sonic, Shadow, we found Isaac! I repeat, we found Isaac! He's alive and well! I repeat, he's alive and well! Tails, bring the Tornado X to where we arrested Fiona! We'll be waiting there!" Amy said, signing off.
"Roger that! I'm on my way!" Tails responded.
"Shadow and I read you loud and clear! We're heading back to Castle Acorn to tell Sally the news! See you guys back home!" Sonic responded.
Amy put her communicator down as Isaac was sitting down in one of the chairs, groaning. As he sat there, Lily walked to him, taking off her pack. She opened it, taking out Isaac's cloak, folded. She handed it to him, Isaac unfolding it. With some reluctance, Isaac put it on, feeling its weight on his shoulders.
"How's it feel to be the Ranger again?" Amy asked, believing Isaac was happy about it. Isaac looked to her, showing no facial expression at all.
"Let's just get back home before anything else happens." Isaac responded.