In the mist of the dark tunnel they were traveling through, Shadow found his mind elsewhere. The three of them had managed to land safely at the end of the once dark abyss and were now moving along on foot. But their progress was delayed due to Shadow's apparent daydreams.

"Shadow!", squeaked Amy. "You're standing on my foot!"  The sakura colored hedgehog whacked some sense into him with her hammer. Sara gagged his mouth in the meanwhile to avoid any unwanted attention if any more robots happened to be near by.

"Maybe we should have let you rest up a bit more before coming here", said Sara. She was afraid that even if his wounds had healed as rapidly as they did, he still might be too weak to keep up a fight. She stepped back as he took her hand away from his mouth and let out a small sigh.

"I'm alright, but the chain of recent events have clouded my thoughts." Amy moved in closer to him, already having a sense of where this might be going. "Shadow", she started off slowly, "You shouldn't go blaming yourself for what happened. If anything, you tried and did set things right…"

"It's not that Amy. It's this feeling of incompleteness that I've been feeling since then. No family, no friends…"

"You have two good friends right here, so don't let that count."

"You don't understand…this feeling. I don't belong anywhere. The ARK was probably the only place where I was truly accepted. But after recent events, I'm having trouble believing that…"

Sara placed her gentle hand upon his shoulder once again. "You're not alone on this world. I too long for the homes that fate stole away from me. Wishing for things to get better never works unless you work for it yourself. As long as you have a good heart, you'll always have a good home in my place..."

"You'll always be welcome at my place too. Although I don't think that Sonic would like it much."

::giggles:: "Just remember to keep your heart in the right place. My island has a very special way of keeping evil hearts from stepping foot upon its soil. If your heart is ever polluted, you might not cast sight upon the isle again."

"Maria…"

"Who is she? I've often stepped into your chamber to hear you call out to her in your slumber."

"She was a close friend of Shadow's back when he lived on ARK."

"She was my first friend. She taught me everything I know. And for awhile, I've only been living to carry out what I thought was her final wish…until now."

Both of his female companions froze in their place upon hearing that last sentence. Both were puzzled by their companion's last remark; Amy now wondering if Shadow had an ulterior motive for going along on this adventure, Sara a bit confused because she had a lack of knowledge of what Shadow spoke of.

Shadow turned around to face the both of them before trying to speak again. "Ever since I was released from my 50-year slumber, that horrible day back on A.R.K. rewinds and plays back in my mind. But of recent it's been different…"

"Maria?", exclaimed the puzzled hedgehog. He was now face to face with his late companion. "Is it really you?" He lifted a hand to touch the figure that stood before him, which in turn extended a hand out to meet it. She smiled as their warm hands met.

"I'm so glad that you remember me", said Maria. She bent down to give her perplexed friend a long awaited embrace. Shadow was then suddenly overtaken by a flow of emotions of which he had never felt before. Tears streamed down his eyes as he returned her embrace. He was so overwhelmed by joy and sorrow that his only words were bits and pieces of his two primary thoughts.

"Oh Maria…I missed you so much…I never wanted to leave you…I wish you didn't give your life for me…I wish I could have been more of the person you wanted me to be…I wish I could have saved you…I wish my anger hadn't blinded me from fulfilling your wish sooner…I…" She had covered his mouth to quiet him down. He gazed into her thoughtful, expressive eyes, knowing full well that he could understand her without expressing words. He could tell straight away that she was indeed very happy to be reunited with him, but she had something important to share with him.

"Sometimes you get a bit too carried away, Shadow-chan", Maria giggled. "I have no regrets of my own for saving you except that I wish that I could always be with you…but telling you that is part of the reason I'm here."

He looked up to take a good look at their surroundings. Clear, blue sky, and what appeared to be white clouds upon which they stood. "Where are we, Maria?" he pondered out loud. "Is this that heaven place you once told me about?"

Maria smiled. "Well, this is the way I pictured heaven when I was still alive. Good souls each get to live out the rest of eternity in their version." Her happier expression soon turned into a grimace when she said, "But that might not be true for everyone soon…" She turned around to gaze at the azure atmosphere. "Something terrible will happen very soon to both life on earth and heaven. There's still a chance of hope for us…"

Shadow loathed the idea of watching his best friend having to suffer, and couldn't bear the thought of having her suffer even in death. A burning fury again arose within him, the same engulfing flame of light that had driven him to go through any means necessary to carry out her wish. "I don't care what dangers or obstacles await me, but I will do everything within my power to keep you and the world safe from this arising danger."

"With a strong will like that, I know you will be the one to succeed…"

The smoke black hedgehog turned in the direction of the new voice, perplexed. He immediately got in front of Maria to shield her from any trouble that might come of it. "Who's there? Show yourself!" There was nothing he could do when a bright and blinding light caught him off guard. "MARIA!!!", he screamed out. He slowly began moving backwards to try and find the girl, but it proved futile. And that's when it all went dark…

…He awoke to find himself enveloped within complete darkness, unable to see. His arms and legs were unable to make any movement. It even proved difficult to speak. He was immobilized, completely at the mercy of his captor.

A warm breeze swept across his face when he suddenly sensed that someone or something was directly in front of him. A great sense of fear rushed throughout his body; the first time that he could ever being so afraid besides that terrible day upon the ARK.

As quickly as he had been rendered helpless, he was once again free within an instant. He opened his eyes to finally come face to face with what had held in him bondage. Nothing but a glowing pink sphere of light. Infuriated, he took a few swats at it, all the while missing with each swing.  Finally giving up on getting even, he started to walk away, but to his surprise, it followed along after him.

It eventually got ahead of him and stopped directly in front, hindering movement in any direction. The sphere slowly began to glow brighter, so bright that Shadow was now using both his hands to protect his eyes from the brightness. Even though he was temporarily rendered blind, he could sense that the sphere was moving around him, increasing its movement and speed. Finally, it stopped. And when he removed his hands from his eyes, a beautiful, tan female echidna stood before him.

"Do not be afraid of what you see.", Tikal began slowly. Shadow was not the kind of hedgehog to scare easily, and after finding out that some "girl" was behind all of this, he felt it best to just turn around and ignore her. But she appeared directly in front of him again as he did so.

"I'm sorry if I was a bit rough on you a while back", she said apologetically. "But it was the only way to calm you down. Maria wasted a bit too much time reminiscing with you rather than informing you on what you must do."

Shadow cocked a curious eyebrow at Tikal. "Must do?", he said tauntingly. "I have to do something…for you? I think not!"  He shoved the seemingly weak echidna over to one side to allow himself passage, only to find that she had gotten a tight grip on one of his arms as he passed by.

"You have a lot to gain from this if you go through with it", growled Tikal, her grip on Shadow's hand getting tighter by the minute. The tan echidna finally released her powerful grip, catching the black hedgehog off guard and sending him with a crash to the ground.

"Serves you right", Tikal growled once more. She turned around, irritated with her listener's sheer rudeness. "I honestly don't know why Maria would waste a wish on you." Shadow jumped back onto his feet upon hearing his friend's name again. "Maria? Where is she? I promised her that I would do everything in my power to keep the world safe from an oncoming evil that she warned me about before you decided to take me out."

The insightful echidna turned again to face him once more. "Maria will be fine for the time being. If, and only if you continue to carry out your promise to her once more. Both heaven and earth will be surrounded by a great darkness if the life elements are not protected."

"Elements? What are you talking about?"

"These elements are what sustain life on earth. Air, water, fire, earth, light. These elements all work in conjunction with each other to keep a balance in creating and maintaining life. But if one or more elements are allowed to reach their full potential, chaos results. Think of fire and water. Any living being needs both to survive. But fire can destroy homes and lands, and a lack of respect for a body of water could result in a drowning."

"And how exactly am I supposed to carry out this task? Collect a small sample of each and watch it like that echidna who never lets that emerald out of sight?"

"I LIVE INSIDE THAT EMERALD! And no, that's not the way you're going to go about it. An ancient manuscript has been intertwined with modern technology to create a being that possesses 3 of the elemental powers. If it were nothing but a mere mindless drone, then you could have simply destroyed it. But…it has a mind of it's own…it thinks, breathes, senses pain. You have to protect it…so that it doesn't become a danger to itself or others."

"So I have to protect this possible threat?"

"Yes. It will only be a threat if it overtaken by the power of evil back on Earth. With the help and aid of Sara Rai, the both of you should be able to succeed."

"Sara? Is there something more to her that I have yet to know?"

"She is the last remaining priestess to Aozora Knife, the goddess from which the elemental forces are derived.

"And what of Maria's wish?"

"You won't know until you've fulfilled her promise." Tikal sported an ear to ear grin as she stepped over towards the contemplating hedgehog. "And now," she started off, "It's time for you to go." She pushed him backwards, causing him to fall, not knowing when he would land…

"…and that's when I woke up.", finished Shadow. "I've been wondering what it is that I must protect, and I have somewhat of an idea of what it must be." "You do?", inquired Amy. She had taken lead of the group while Shadow explained his dream. "Please share with us. It'll give us a better chance of what we're up against."

"I don't know how to describe her except that I can understand how she feels…", he sighed. "Yearning to be free after being locked in for so long…it's as if she and I are one in the same…"  Amy cocked an eyebrow. "It's female?" Shadow nodded in reply. "I'm certain of that. Especially in which it calls out to me. It seems all it can say is 'Help me'. That and nothing more. But such a powerful message…I'm so drawn to it." He was interrupted when Sara accidentally brushed her staff into his back.

"Sorry", she said coyly. "I just find it rather funny that you irritated Tikal so quickly on a first meeting. She's usually very nice."

"And I find it rather interesting that you're a priestess.", replied the smoke hedgehog. "The last of your kind…and the same one that I have to work with?"

"I've known full well that I am the last priestess of Aozora Knife. There were 5 priestesses: 4 for each element, and 1 whom was the chief priestess and was far superior over the others. But 3 of them were overtaken by greed and destroyed their own civilizations, while the other 2 died for noble causes. But that's a story that can wait. We have our work ahead of us."

"Agreed. Let's continue forward."