Chapter three: "The Name of the Game"
"Hey, Kayoss...?" A little voice asked softy.
"Leave me alone." The emerald haired woman hissed, her eyes still closed, pretending to
be asleep, although everybody knows that spirits are restless.
The small red-head girl continued, unheeding her ill-temper. "Do you wanna play a game?"
She asked, happily.
"No, I do not want to play a game." Kayoss growled, opening one eye to glare down at the
grinning girl. As innocent and playful as she might be, Venus was beggining to become a real
pain the elegant emerald's backside.
"Puh-weese?" Venus asked sweetly, "It'll be fun!"
"I said leave me alone!" Kayoss replied, closing her eye again, and turning around.
"Aww... Oh well. I'll find someone else to play with!" She said, and bounded away to the
other side of the chamber.
"Good riddance." Kayoss mumbled.
"Hey Ace, will YOU play a game with meeee?" She heard the little girl ask, in her
sickenly sugar-sweet voice. You could still hear that little trollop loud and clear, all the
way across the room. Now she was inquiring of the tall white-haired man, Kayoss' mate, as
much as she hated to admit it.
"Sure, Venus sweetie." He answered calmly.
Kayoss opened her eyes and shot him a nasty glare. Ace just smiled and waved at her. She
sneered back at him. 'Sweetie?' She thought darkly.
A tall violet-haired woman, draped in black and purple silks, laughed softly behind her.
"What are you snickering about?!" Kayoss demanded, turning and eyeing her viciously.
"Nothing..." She answered, in her dull voice. "...I just find jealousy amusing."
"Jealousy?" Kayoss spat at her, "I am NOT jealous! Especially not over HIM!"
Ace waved again, grinning happily. He was very content to be locked in a cave full
of beautiful women.
"Whatever you say..." The gothic woman answered.
"Oh, shut your pie-hole, Rona." Kayoss seethed.
Ace returned his attention back to Venus, who was jumping up and down in front of his
pedestal. He smiled down at her, and patted her on the head. "Now what game shall we play?" He
asked calmly.
She giggled, "Let's just make it up as we go along!"
* * * * *
A single cloaked figure slowly made its way through the thick undergrowth. As she pushed
aside the thick branches and stepped over rotting logs, a large insect buzzed past her.
She took a swing at it and missed, causing herself to topple over into a bush.
She uttered a obscenity.
Rising again, she brushed off her black robe furiously. The fact was, that here on
the Floating Island, getting around was much tougher than she thought it would be. Especially in
this stupid uniform. For a moment, she thought of throwing it away. But then surely someone
would find it's remains and know she was here somewhere. Besides, the dark cloth provided
more than a small amount of stealth, which was something she definitely didn't want to lose.
She didn't want to risk being caught by that crazy monster that attacked her comrades a month
ago while she was escaping.
That brought upon another thought. The Dark Legion. For odd reasons, she was beginning to
miss it. She had been thinking about her brother a lot lately. Deep down inside her she loved
him, but of course she would never admit that. He had been somewhat of a companion at least, if
not an annoying one. He had taken care of her when she was young. He had always been a shoulder
to cry on... But now, she felt forgotten and alone. For a second, she regretted ditching the
Dark Legion.
Then she thought of Kragok.
But what kind of freedom had she bought? Hiding like a fugitive out in the brush? It
wasn't the life she had wanted. But it was better than being a slave... Somewhat.
She slapped at another mosquito. "Damn bugs..." She grumbled.
* * * * *
"Woah..." Knuckles mumbled, setting the book down on the table. "This is waaaay to weird
for me."
"Yeah," Shelia agreed, "A book that writes itself?"
"And about Knuckles, no less." Archimedes agreed.
"What does it mean Archy?" Knuckles asked, "I'm so confused..."
"Is that so out of the ordinary?" Archimedes said, trying to add some spice to the
conversation.
All he got in return was a steely glare from Knuckles.
The ant cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So what were you saying about a
girl in a dream?" He asked curiously.
"I had this weird vision of this echidna girl, a guardian like me. She asked me what I
thought of my destiny and told me this weird story about 'trapping the essence of good and
evil in eight stones'..."
"The Elemental Crystals?" Shelia asked.
"I guess so." He said thoughtfully, "She said that I was supposed to bring them all
together again..."
"Waaaait a second." Archimedes interrupted, "First off, I want to know how you--" He
said pointing to Shelia, "--know so much about this?"
"I studied the Lost Scrolls extensively." She said, "I was the keeper of the Love Ruby
and the Hate Amethyst. My mother and father were keepers."
Knuckles turned to her. "You're father was one too?!"
She blinked. "I didn't tell you that yet?" She said airily, "Yeah, he was. How else do
you think I got stuck guarding two stones?"
"Euh..." Knuckles said, "I didn't really think about that..."
Archimedes stared at her in surprised. Looking at the pretty female, you wouldn't think
she had much in her head besides air, but actually she was very mentally sound, although a bit
emotionally unstable... She was a descendant of two of these 'keepers'...
She sniffled, as if plagued by some bad memory. Knuckles, looking sympathetic put a
steady hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and smiled weakly.
Archimedes truly wished he hadn't stayed in Haven all this time researching with
Knuckles' father, Locke. He always missed all the good stuff. Like, how did Knuckles find
himself sharing a bunk with this girl? And what of these strange visions? And what exactly
where these elemental crystals anyway? Suddenly, another question came to mind.
"Knuckles," He asked, "Do you have any idea who this... 'Mysterious girl' in your dream
represented?"
He thought a moment. "I think she told me her name... It was... Uh..." He struggled to
remember, "Something with an A... Aurora something I think..."
"Aurora?" Archimedes gulped, "As in Aurora-Sa?"
"Yeah!" Knuckles said, snapping his fingers, "That's it, Aurora-Sa!"
Archimedes stared at him flabbergasted for a moment.
"What?" Knuckles asked eagerly, "Who is she?"
Shaking himself from his stupor, the fire ant regained his composture and spoke, "She
was the first guardian..."
"But I thought Edmund was the first guardian." Knuckles said.
"He was the first guardian of the Floating Island." Archimedes explained, "Aurora was
the first guardian of the Chaos Emerald."
Now Knuckles was really confused. "I thought they were the same thing!" He said, frowning.
"No, because you see, the emerald existed before the Floating Island. Edmund, who was a
descendant of Aurora-Sa, used his power as guardian of the emerald to create the island and
save it from destruction by the great comet. Thereby becoming guardian of the Floating Island
AND the emerald."
Knuckles sighed. "I have a headache..."
"Well, your going to have to figure it out." Archimedes said. "You have been blessed
with a great responsibility. Now you have to find those other four stones that the book speaks
of!"
"...Blessed?" Knuckles grumbled.
"Yes! Now, tell me what have you learned from these Lost Scrolls?" The ant asked
enthusiastically.
"Um... Well, I haven't exactly read them yet..." Knuckles admitted.
"WHAT?!" Archimedes exploded.
Knuckles cringed. "Eh, well I haven't exactly had the time... I've been studying the new
gems, and the helping build the fort, and the organizing the freedom fighters, and uh..."
"...Snuggling with you new ladyfriend?" Archimedes scowled.
Shelia and Knuckles flushed. "Uh..." They both mumbled.
"As I thought." He sighed, "Well, now that I'm here there'll be no more of that..."
"B-but Archy--" Knuckles started.
"WE WILL BE WORKING..." The ant said grimly. "Starting now. Now if you don't mind Miss
ClearWaters, I wish to converse with my student ALONE."
Shelia glanced at Knuckles.
He gave her an apologetic look.
"Well?" Archimedes said sternly.
"Y-yes, sir." She managed to stammer. It was odd how such a creature so small in stature
could impend such an intimidating force with just the sound of his voice. Obviously he held some
kind of power... "I should be going now anyway. The troops need me..."
"Good bye, Shelia..." Knuckles said gently, with a timid smile.
She wanted to kiss him farewell, but decided that wouldn't be good, since this
ant teacher of his didn't seem to like public displays of affection. She began to back
towards the door. "I... I guess I'll see you... later...?" She said softly, almost pleadingly.
"Um... How about lunch...?" Knuckles began.
"No." Archimedes snapped.
"...This afternoon...?"
"No."
"...Dinner...?"
"I said no."
"Aw, c'mon! What about tonight? Like eight or something? Surely we'll be done by then!"
Knuckles begged.
Archimedes sighed. "Fine, fine..."
Shelia and Knuckles celebrated silently.
"Well, I'll see you then..." Shelia said.
"Great... Meet you at the fort..." Knuckles mumbled.
"Bye..."
"Bye..."
Archimedes sighed again. He wondered if he was this sappy when he was a teenager.
* * * * * *