Sonic Hill 2: DX
Ending II: Ritual
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'Speak. I am the Crimson One. The lies and the mist are not They but I. You all know that I am the One. Yes, and the One is I. Believers hearken to me! Twenty score souls and seven thousand beasts. Heed my words and speaketh them to all, that they shall ever be obeyed even under the light of the proud and merciless sun. I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath.
The beauty of the withering flower and the last struggles of the dying soul, they are my blessings. Thou shalt ever call upon me and all that is me in the place that is silent. Oh, proud fragrance of life which flies towards the heart. Oh Cup, which brims with the whitest of whine, it is in thee that all begins.
Lautir. Lautir. Lautir. Chaos reigns here.'
—Book of Lost Memories, Chapter 22, Page 481: "Crimson Ceremony"
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(now i understand)
The deep cold water of Lake Toluca resisted, but the tiny rowboat traveled across its surface slowly. Closer and closer he came to his final destination, Oshimai Island. It could be seen from the map; standing almost exactly in the middle of the lake, but he'd never gone there before. No one had. It was just a barren lonely island in the middle of the large mass of water, nothing of interest really. It did make a nice tourist photo, but that was all the importance it had to the lucky souls who had the chance to live free of the truth. No one would have ever suspected the evils which grew there…
And no one would have ever suspected a small town like this one would mean so much, would contain so much
(sin)
all along.
The water softly waved back and forth, rocking the boat around, but Miles Prower still kept control.
'I can save him…'
The island wasn't very far now. The fog blocked his view, but he knew it was near. He could feel its
(its sin its horror its pain)
presence. Only about twenty meters ahead, maybe a little more. The time it took to get there didn't really matter – he would row forever if he had to. Time didn't matter, pain didn't matter, fear didn't matter. Nothing mattered.
Only he mattered.
"Sonikku…" the fox spoke in a dry voice, a slightly dazed and insane look on his gritty face. "You look so peaceful…"
(sin sonic hill all began)
"Forgive me for waking you…"
(the shadow no more no more oh please bring the real back)
"But without you, I just can't go on…"
(never again never again never again)
"I can't live without you, Sonic…"
(forever we shall)
"This town, Sonic Hill…"
(sonic hill sonic hill found another flesh kill)
"The old gods still haven't left this place…"
(chaos the one his secret name)
"And they still grant power to those who venerate them…"
(forever his)
"Power to defy even death…"
(no more no more sonic no more)
The boat's journey came to a slow end as it finally reached the shoreline. It tipped slightly to the left when it reached the small sandy beach, where Miles climbed out of it. He silently wondered if all this was real, truly his reality. It could be just some horrible nightmare—it sure felt like it—but he wasn't sure if he even wanted to wake up in the now dull and gray world he knew before this happened, after his lovers' death. That world just didn't seem worth waking up for.
But in nightmares, you don't feel pain.
Yet still, how could he know if this thing in particular was real? The book was found in a museum, but it might have just been a little fairy tale…
'No.' he told himself. 'This has to be real too. Everything else was.'
The book had contained everything. It was hard to believe only about two or three days ago, he was a lonely young fox who thought his love had died of a disease a long time ago.
(oh what a lie)
Only about a day or two ago, he had thought it was some sort of nightmare he could possibly escape; leave the town and live happily ever after with the beautiful hedgehog he had come to love in his lifetime.
(!oh what a lie!)
And only a few hours ago he had thought he could play the role of the hero and bravely rescue his love from the dark tower in the hotel. Maybe set things to end well for them both…
(!!!LIESLIESLIES!!!)
It was a lie, all of it. He couldn't believe he once thought he had even the slightest chance of leaving the place. He was meant to die here. Everyone drawn to Sonic Hill was.
(but you were not sonikku you were innocent oh so innocent)
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The weakened twigs that were his frail legs felt like they'd collapse at any moment. He knew that ache, that weakness mortals were forced to face, wouldn't last much longer though. Everyone else was dead—other than Amy, but she truly wasn't supposed to be in a place like this anyway—and he knew he'd soon be dead too.
'But Sonic…'
Sonic didn't do anything wrong. He didn't deserve to die such a horrible death; he didn't deserve to suffer…
'And I promise you, Sonic, you will be spared…'
The stone steps he had been walking up finally ended. It was a small hill, but the strength it took to navigate it wasn't very plentiful in his body. That same ache focused everywhere on his body, leaving it to feel null in a strange way.
The ritual grounds lie ahead.
'Power to defy even death…'
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More hours passed, and he was ready. The performance was successfully coming together. All the supplies needed were obtained: the White Chrism, the Obsidian Goblet, the book, all of them. Red paint had already been applied to the dirty-white fur on his face; the Book of Lost Memories lay open before him, and the goblet now drunken of its bright white liquid was in his hand.
"Lautir…Lautir…Lautir…" he called into the air in a chant-like tone. "Chaos. I call thy name. An exchange, I beg of you, an exchange of souls. I'm yours, for eternity; damn me to the sacred grounds you walk upon. Your power—no, this town—shall grow stronger. Stronger still, for the day that your flesh awakens once again. The world shall burn, and you shall rule. I'll be yours. All this…for Sonikku. Bring him back to life! Take me instead! Chaos, my lord!"
A strange, slightly insane smile formed on his dry lips as he realized he had become a Satanist.
"Take me instead…" he repeated in a soft whisper.
The sacred grounds were simple. A wide open cradle with the mark of Chaos carved into the center of it: a triangle within a circle, strange lettering surrounding its interior. The same symbol was engraved onto the Book of Lost Memories, and in the prison cell, not to mention the hotel lobby's center. There were a few dead trees
(oh no more until death)
surrounding the area; their tops peaked out over the rocky brown wall around the place's perimeter. From afar, it looked like just a normal hill on a small island. But when standing there, it became pretty apparent that it was another one of Sonic Hill's many ritual grounds, the gates to
(heaven? hell?)
Chaos's home.
'No one would ever suspect…'
"Chaos! I call thy name!"
—Cling…cling…cling…
"I pray for my death!"
—Cling! Cling! Cling!
"I call thy name!!!"
—CLANG-DE-BOOM!
Echoing, then silence.
He felt weary.
(oh not over yet)
Now there was only one thing left to do. One
(sacrifice)
final thing
(a soul for a soul)
before it all ends.
His tainted blue eyes narrowed. He hadn't really thought about how he'd do it until now. He'd need to draw blood, lots of blood, along with his soul to bring his love back to life…
(rouges knife oh yes i still have it)
Subconsciously, Miles pulled the large shiny blade out of his side-pack and held it in front of his face. How ironic that Eggman and Rouge had actually helped him get to this point, even after he tried so hard to stop them. Like that suicidal batgirl—and he himself too—had earlier, he stared into his own distorted reflection on its luster. Moats of lava surrounded his crimson-cracked eyes. Cuts covered his once resplendent happy face, most of which didn't balance out his physical and mental pain in the least bit. Maybe in a few seconds, the balance would be perfected. Just maybe.
The fox slowly raised the knife into the air, the deadly tip of the weapon pointing towards the ground. He felt ashamed to admit it, but he felt nervous. It was still so hard to do this; even when you lost everything and wanted to die, that frustrating glimmer of hope or wonder or worry wouldn't die before you. It wasn't easy to give up entirely. What if the ritual didn't work? What if Chaos had just cheated him? What if—
(—no what ifs its over no one is going to save me but i can bring you back love)
He grasped the knife tightly and shut his eyes.
(anything for sonikku)
With that, he plunged the blade into his chest, rewarding himself with the sickening crack of the metal entering his weakened body. He felt, actually felt it pierce his heart, and was surprised at how long it too for his body to actually react. After what seemed like an eternity dripping with anticipation, the pain finally sunk in like a heavy iron-filled bullet. Unbearable pain, but more of an awkward feeling of actually having the foreign object inside his chest.
(oh pain never felt so good)
In that instant, a strange noise echoed throughout the entire town. A murmur in the distance, a demonic
(chaos…)
voice. Then, blue light flashed all around the ritual grounds, stealing his eyesight for a moment before returning it remorsefully. A figure appeared in front of him out of the light, as if it came from another dimension.
It was him.
(!sonikku!)
Sonic stood only a few feet before the fox, a confused and scared look on his still-beautiful young face. He stared down at his clean, gloved hands in shock, as amazed at his return to the living world as Miles was. He looked exactly the same as he did three years ago; his dark blue fur, his innocent but now scared emerald green eyes, his soft tan skin…
"I'm…alive…?" Sonic whispered, shaking slightly as he continued to stare at his hands.
Miles tried to smile, but he was too tired to. Too tired to even move. Sonic looked up, and the fear in his eyes turned to pure terror.
"Tails!!"
He felt dizzy, very dizzy. The weariness was overwhelming, mixing in with the pain and dizziness in a mix of extreme disorientation. Before he knew it, his legs failed him, and he was on the ground. The knife was almost all the way into his chest; its hilt resting only an inch away from his bloodstained fur. He felt Sonic's shaking hands grab onto him as the hedgehog kneeled down before him and held him close like a panicked mother.
"No! Tails! What have you done!? Why!?" his blue love cried, cradling the fox closely. Tears streamed down his divine face, similar to how the crimson flowed continuously out of the fox's decimated chest. Miles tried to speak, but only a small squeak escaped his lips. He was fading fast.
(fading…fading…fading…)
"Tails! Please don't leave me again! This wasn't supposed to happen! Why'd y—"
Sonic's lips continued to move rapidly, but the dying fox couldn't hear it anymore. Seconds seemed like hours; his body was slowly shutting down. Almost all his senses, if not gone already, were moments from disappearing too. If he had any breath left, he'd hold it, just to see his love for a moment longer.
(sonikku…youre alive…)
He was never so tired in his entire life, but he felt it was far past worth it. With that thought in mind, his eyelids slowly began to descend, closing for the final time.
(youre alive…)
They shut.
(…i love you sonikku…)
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Give me a reason to believe that you're gone
I see your shadow, so I know they're all wrong
Moonlight on the soft brown earth, it leads me to where you lay
They took you away from me, but now I'm taking you home
I will stay forever here with you, my love
The softly spoken words you gave me…
Even in death, our love goes on
Some say I'm crazy for my love…mmm…my love (my love…)
But no bonds can hold me from your side…mmm…my love
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me
I will stay forever here with you, my love
The softly spoken words you gave me…
Even in death, our love goes on
And I can't love you anymore than I do…
-inst.-
I will stay forever here with you, my love
The softly spoken words you gave me…
Even in death, our love goes on
And I can't love you anymore than I do…
"People die, but real love is forever."
"Even in Death" - Evanescence