Chapter 8 – By the Light of her Dreams.
A/N: This is it folks; what's been troubling Amy is made plain this chapter. Read on and enjoy the tension. Just a quick note though:
HHH – The guy at the cash register – he's the same guy from AODAI (the one who asked Seraph to take his mask off – the 'burnt guy' he mentioned to Amy is none other than the masked Mobian himself). There are some other references to AODAI in this chapter; see if you can spot them all. Here's hoping I got the Chaotix personalities right – let me know if something's amiss… Cheers for the review :-).
It was nearly time, she was nearly there; she could feel it in her bones. As the small mountain range came into view and gradually grew to fill the horizon with a row of dagger-like projections, tension began to flood through Amy's body like an electric charge. Soon, she'd be able to find the reason behind her restless dreams; in a matter of hours, not days or weeks, she'd know the face behind the smoke and illusions. She kept her eyes peeled out of the side window; the pink hedgehog was trying to remember the exact route the Tornado had gone by to get to the entrance of Eggman's base – she knew it was a little way back from the road, but she could swear that the mineshaft hadn't been all that far from here, and it was definitely on her side of the car. This is it; no stopping or chickening out now, I gotta go through with this and rescue whoever needs help and…wait, that rock looks like, and there's where we speed tested the Tornado! Amy snapped to full alert and tapped the croc on the arm,
"Vec, stop here, this is it". The vehicle hadn't even fully juddered to a halt before Amy had thrown her door open and bounded out; even by the waning light of the day she could confirm this was the place. It all fitted perfectly, she reckoned she could still see in the distance the squat silhouette of the truck they'd driven the Guild of Treasure Hunters and the unconscious Dr Eggman back to Station Square in, just next to the flat plain the Tornado had churned up when Tails had invited her to accompany him on a speed test. The fact that this test had been a plot by Knuckles to take everyone but the guild out of the picture while he helped them get over the previous events had come out later after Sonic had annoyed the guardian enough to get him to admit it. Those events, however, were now mere memories, this was real and happening; as the Chaotix departed their car and Vector moved to retrieve the supplies they'd brought with them out the boot, she turned to address them,
"This is the place; follow me". She led them towards the mine shaft, the footsteps in the sand becoming ever plainer before her eyes as she walked closer to her goal.
"This is it?" Espio looked down at the gaping maw with extreme distaste, "you dragged us out here so you could go pot-holing?"
"Well, I was going to pay you for coming, but if you carry on like that I'm not sure I'll bother"; the chameleon's acid tongue was really starting to grate on the hedgehog's nerves, especially as she waited for Vector to join the group as Charmy flew overhead.
"Looks creepy", the bee remarked before glancing down at Amy, "sure you want to do this alone?" She smiled back at him,
"Thanks for the concern, but yeah; this is something I've gotta do solo".
"Just as well I brought this then isn't it?" Vector huffed as he removed one of his hands from his overcoat pocket, revealing an old style but perfectly serviceable radio, its partner still safely secreted in his other pocket, "call in if you get into trouble, oh and this'll let you see down there". Amy took both the radio and the heavy duty flashlight, nodded her thanks and turned to Charmy,
"Hey Charm, mind giving me a lift down…?" It was at this point Espio moved forwards, a distinctively bored expression on his face as he made a startling point.
"How are you going to know where you've been; it's a mine system, you could just wander in circles down there until you dropped dead of thirst or starvation". Amy tried to think of a system on the fly; perhaps she could mark her way with the hammer haft, but then the chameleon shifted his hands under his blanket; good job someone's thinking ahead isn't it?
"Here", the reptile said bad-temperedly, almost forcing the cans of spray paint into the hedgehog's hands, "spray this on the walls; if you need help we'll come looking for you; leave a trail for us to follow". Amy snorted, though she couldn't not admit that Espio had come up with a good idea there and had helped her out a bit into the bargain.
"Thanks", she holstered the cans in her dress pockets, the tips sticking out like six-shooter grips as she raised her arms for Charmy to grab onto, "if I'm not back in three days send a search party". Vector smiled and shook his head,
"You better come back; we're relying on you to pay next week's food bill". He waved as Charmy carefully raised both himself and his passenger into the air then, after checking his positioning with a few glib pointers from Espio, slowly lowered them both down into the engulfing void below.
Amy shivered as the waning daylight was gradually shut off by the encompassing girth of the hewn earth walls; she imagined she was being lowered into a pool of shadow like a fishing worm into water. As the darkness deepened, her vision became less and less clear; to compensate her body boosted perception to her other senses. She became aware of the tiny down draughts caused by the rapid beating of Charmy's wings as the bee lowered her slowly to the floor of this service tunnel. The damp, musty scent of earth became clearer and more pronounced to her nose and her hearing sharpened; there was a slight tapping sound caused by water dripping onto solid stone and the tiny trickle of subsidence as tiny pebbles rolled against each other in the endless dance of erosion. However, most of her sensory input was directed against herself and the one who carried her.
"Any", in the dank oppressiveness the bee's voice was magnified a hundred-fold; bouncing of the walls and amplifying itself to epic proportions, "any idea how far down it is?"
"No" she whispered back, peeking down as she did to try and make out anything in the gloom beneath her feet; she smiled weakly as she realised she could barely see even them in this darkness. She tried to remember what Knuckles had said about the distance; he had been the one to attempt this descent at first, he had led the attempt to save Rouge from the indirectly dangerous machinations of the vampire bat Seraph and his vendetta against Eggman. He had said how far down this led; had it been fifty feet, no surely not as deep as that, forty maybe at the max but...Amy couldn't suppress a gasp of shock as her feet suddenly and completely unexpectedly touched solid ground. She jerked to a halt as Charmy, senses strained almost as much as the hedgehog's, ceased his descent in alarm,
"What is it?" Stilling the frenzied pulsing of her startled heart, Amy kept her voice level enough to reply calmly,
"The floor; Charmy this is it. Let me go here and fly back to the other two". The pair hovered for a few seconds more before the bee restarted his motion; Amy felt herself lowered fully to the rough earthen basement of this tunnel and listened as Charmy remained stationary, trying to judge where he was and what could happen next; he didn't like it one bit.
"Ames, I don't think this is a good idea; at least let one of us come with you…"
"No", the younger bee heard a slight rustle; Amy's spines chafing together as she shook her head, "I appreciate the concern Charm, but no; I just, need to go through with this alone". There was a click and both Mobians were dazzled as Amy clicked on the flashlight Vector had given her; the torch was more powerful than either had anticipated and flooded the confined tunnel with pearly light. Taking solace in this, the pink hedgehog reassured her new friend,
"Don't worry Charmy, I'll be fine; I'll leave a trail like Espio said and radio if I need any help", she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled sagely, "trust me on this; it'll all be okay". In the short term, this statement was proved right by the remainder of her journey; however, if Amy had even the slightest inkling of what her actions would result in, she would probably have taken on the Metal Overlord with a broken chair leg than set foot in those cursed mines again.
"Alright, you're the boss, quite literally in fact", Charmy reminded himself as he unfurled his transparent wings once more; as Amy shone the light around the walls to let him see any sharp edges that could have resulted in painful wing tears he set off on the return journey, telling her one last time, "just take care Amy; good luck".
"Thanks" she whispered back, holding the light steady as he gained altitude enough to reach a safe level of light and navigate his own way out the mine hole. When she was sure he was high enough, she breathed steadily, turned the light down the way she had to go and took one of the cans of paint Espio had given her out of her pocket, shaking it until it rattled as it was supposed to. Popping the cap off the top, she gave an experimental squirt onto the wall next to her; the spray was a vivid, stark white and she wrinkled her nose at the bitter, acrid tang. If all else fails they'll be able to sniff me out, pheww; with flashlight tracking the way in front of her, paint marking her trail and adrenaline coursing through her nervous bursts, Amy cautiously yet excitedly followed her dreams to their as yet unknown conclusion.
"Drop off okay?"
"Just fine", Charmy assured the others as Espio lent him a hand and pulled him onto the safe ground away from the maw of the drop, "she's down okay and setting off now".
"Damn, you should have dropped her from higher up" the chameleon commented; Vector folded his burly arms,
"Look Esp, she's not a bad person, just 'cause she kicked your butt is no reason not to like her; she even apologised afterwards". The ninja looked up to his larger friend and shook his head, putting up his normal front of uncaring, unfeeling distaste, hiding his true motives as well as his ninjistu training obfuscated his emotions.
"Whatever". Charmy snorted with distaste,
"Sometimes Espio, I swear you're not Mobian". He didn't react and the bee turned away in disgust, missing as he did the tiny flicker of emotion that raced across Espio's eyes; something he'd tried for years with all the weight of his ninja training to eradicate from his mind and his memories danced through his psyche, tormenting his frustrated efforts to crush it utterly. He was still for a second more before sinking to the sand in a meditative pose, refocusing himself and the reasons why he did both dislike and envy Amy Rose into a logical order, replacing chaos with order as he strove to strengthen himself and disprove his weakness.
In the darkness beneath the feet of the Chaotix, Amy swept the heavy beam of the light she held across the uneven floor, taking care of where it was safe to tread and where the ground was more uneven, marking the path she had taken with the paint she had been given. Something suddenly glinted in the light; she swung to catch it in the full beam and examined it closely; as she caught a closer look at the object buried into the wall of the corridor. Now I know I'm going the right way; she paused for a second to remember how Shadow had used the scraps of destroyed badniks to leave a trail for them to follow out of Robotnik's base – strange she had forgotten that little detail earlier. Now she remembered, she realised she could simply use these as further markers to show the way; highlighting the metal shard with an extra spray of white paint, the pink hedgehog took a second to admire her handiwork and then pressed on.
It was coming, the recipient mind had returned. The being could feel the desire to locate it travelling towards the prison it occupied. At such range, the being could directly manipulate the sensations the recipient could feel and use them to ensure swift discovery. The prison glowed brighter as the power was used.
Amy stopped stock-still, shuddering as it felt like a pair of icy spiders had run up her back bone. She exhaled sharply as she looked around for the source; she had been tempted to pass it off as an errant gust of wind, but where was the wind in a deserted place such as this? Someone was trying to tell her something and she only needed one guess as to who – there was a piece of the puzzle she had missed. She took another step only to have a second pause; the icy spiders had a family and stampeded between the short spikes on her back. Reassessing the situation, she took a few paces back, swinging her light back as if it where a searchlight, looking for any clue, any sign of where she was meant to go next. She went back, still straining her eyes to see the way when the spiders raced once more, forcing her to stop. There's nothing, what am I meant to do; could it be below me; Amy examined the ground at her feet but saw nothing, it was only when she swept both her eyes and her light up that serendipity took pity on her plight. One half of the flashlight's beam stayed on the wall, but the other pierced through it; Amy's face fell as she saw just how well the crack had been concealed by the rough outlay of the wall. If it hadn't been for her unknown patron staying her speed she would never have seen it. Taking a few seconds to mark both sides of the crevasse with her paint, the hedgehog then squeezed her slim body through the tiny hole, not daring to attack it with her mallet in case she caused some kind of cave in and entombed herself in this pit. It was a tight fit even for one as slim as herself and going sideways; she held her breath, wriggled and forced herself through until eventually she popped herself out the other side of the opening, into a narrower, more cramped passage than the one she'd entered from. The ground here was slightly smoother but what was even more important to her was that she was closer to her goal.
So close now, barely a mile away, the recipient mind had increased speed to the prison. The being at the centre of this intricate maze existed as it had always done, but now it existed fully, remembering long dormant functions of the mind and expressing them as it had not down for too long. The chamber pulsed with increased speed at the whim of the mind that governed it.
The paint was still being pressed simply because the finger on the nozzle had received no conscious order to release pressure; Amy had forgotten almost everything except how she should follow this path, follow it until the conclusion was reached; this was what she had seen and been dreaming of for too long. I must reach the end, I must see what's been doing this to me; her speed picked up, she sub-consciously noticed the ground under her feet becoming more compact, less broken as she ran onwards, the canister in her hand empty but the nozzle still pressed inwards as all else was forgotten. The need was there, the same consuming desire to run that had driven her mind to propel itself onwards in her prophetic dreams now infused her body. The breath from her lungs came quick and light; lightning dancing in her veins and singing in her pulse as, from far ahead, the faintest tinge of pale red light became visible.
The recipient was here; soon a meeting of minds would take place that would open the doors of freedom and eventual recuperation from this long isolation and imprisonment.
Light, this is it; Amy steeled herself as she slowed up, forcing herself to remain calm even as tension crackled in the air like a thundercloud; both her own and, she sensed, someone else's as well. The red phosphoresce was lighting her way and, as she cautiously extended a single arm up to meet it, she realised with a shock that it was nearly the exact same hue as her own fur; the light simply sank into the hairs as if absorbed by them. Arms outstretched, the empty can of spray-paint falling uselessly to the floor, Amy strode into the light, seeming to merge with it as she still followed her path, walking towards the nexus of the subterranean rose dawn. It was then she paused; she recognised this scene far too clearly, far too well, for it to be coincidence; I never went past this corner, I don't know what lies beyond – she licked her lips, this was it. She could turn her back now, retreat up the way she had come and be done with this place, or she could go forwards into an uncertain future, into the audience of an unknown puppeteer who had led her here. Almost as she formed the heathen thought of flight, there was an angry stampede of snow-footed spiders all over her body, causing her to gasp and deciding her mind; there was no way back now, after she'd come so far and done so much. Summoning her hammer and her courage, Amy seized control of her destiny with both hands; she strode around the corner and presented herself to the summoner.
At the heart of the prison, the summoner awaited her, as it had waited for time immemorial.
The light, it blinded in its harshness, it dazzled with its glare; she had to shut her eyes to protect her sight, robbing her of a glimpse of the culmination of her quest. She turned her head away to protect her vulnerable eyes, raising her hand as if to ward of the luminescence.
"Too bright", she compressed her frustration into short, sharp words, "turn it down, can't see". As if in answer to her frustration, the opalescence dimmed, slowly at first but eventually, the light lowered to a point where Amy could open her eyes without risking blindness. Blinking away the clinging afterimages, the pink hedgehog slowly brought her gaze upwards; she meant to scan the chamber in its entirety, but her eyes were drawn, no, they were ensnared, by the monument that was slowly rotating on the central plinth of this burial mound. The Piko Piko Hammer dropped into the dirt as its owner fell to her knees, overawed by the scale of what had called to her; in that instant, every doubt she'd ever entertained was melted away like candle wax, swallowed in the endless reflections of the spinning jewel. A single thought, whether her own or placed in her blanked mind by another, more powerful psyche than her own, echoed throughout her entire being for a single instant before being instantaneously buried behind a screen of shock and awe; behold, the Bloodstone.
Standing freely on the central dais, the summoner recorded the reaction of the recipient mind. It was as satisfying as it had ever predicted.
It's, it's incredible; Amy brought back enough control to allow her to stand erect on shaking legs, mind still scrambled by the sheer magnificence of the gem in front of her. It was the perfect ruby, blood-red and cut in a classic style, rotating timelessly on its single point, the rest of the jewel freely balanced on this pin head centre of gravity. So this is it; this is what I came to find; she shuffled backwards in awe, raising her recovered hammer as the stone seemed to react to her unvoiced thought; the red light that had attracted her like a moth to a candle flame glowed again, gently, from the centre of the ruby itself. As the hedgehog stared wide-eyed, the glow dimmed once more, leaving just enough to illuminate the entire scene and more importantly, its centre piece. Wetting her suddenly dry lips, Amy took a tentative step forwards and spoke in a quavering voice,
"H,hello?" No answer, not even a pulse of light; she tried again,
"Can you hear me?" Right, I'm talking to a jewel; this is completely absurd; it was then the response came; light flooded the scene, causing her to blink away from the gem and raise a protective arm once more.
"Ahh; right I get it!" It responds to thoughts; it's umm, what the word, telepathic – right, I'm dealing with a telepathic ruby; the pink hedgehog shook herself as it seemed not to react to this line of thought. Before she could think further, there was a change in movement from the glowing form of the ruby.
The recipient mind was hard-pressed to cope with what it saw as defying rationality. The being had long since abandoned the fetters of such linear thought but realised it had made an error in trying to communicate with a creature that did. There was no option now; freedom was close enough to sense.
The pattern of light began to shift; rather than respond to her, the light began a slow, rhythmic pattern of brighten and dim, reminiscent of a giant crystalline heart as Amy watched on entranced. She had been gripped by a fear that she was actually within a colossal creature of some form, about to be engulfed by its mass as it awoke from a torpid slumber. As the heartbeat continued, however, there was no sign of movement from anywhere save the jewel itself. As she focused upon it, the rotating ruby began to spin faster, blurring the reflections the young hedgehog could see within its endless red facets. What is it doing; should I…huh? As she had been enthralled in this intricate dance of light and illusion, Amy had moved and only now realised it; she was at the foot of the steps that led to the jewel. Slowly, timidly, expecting to leap back at any second, the hedgehog crossed the threshold and alighted the roughly hewn stone platforms, bringing her within touching distance of the blood-red precious stone. You brought me here; she looked at one of the polished, flawless facets of unbroken rouge intently, why, what do you need of me? Her reflection blinked, it took her a few seconds to compute that this gesture was completely independent of her own movement and she took a backwards step, disbelieving still as the Amy depicted in the mirrored surface smiled beautifully at her.
The reflection cocked its head as if amused; Amy herself was holding her eyes shut and pinching the flesh of her left arm hard, trying to disbelieve what she was seeing and the evidence of her own senses. She held until the pain burned through to her brain in a rushing, molten river, then she re-opened her eyes, inwardly dreading what she would see. Oh God, what is this – the reflection of herself mimed an exaggerated sigh, still smiling as though she was being silly and playing a game. As she watched on, the smile fell from the simulacrum's face, replaced with a pleading expression and Amy felt pity tug on her heartstrings; she reminded herself that this thing, as it had contacted her, had been calling for help. As that thought flashed across her mind, the reflection nodded and smiled once more, this time bringing up a single hand and offering it forwards, seeming to press against he interior of the jewel as it looked at Amy expectantly. You need me; the hedgehog retook her lost pace as the imprisoned Amy nodded and seemed to press the glassy side of its prison ever more firmly. Amy looked at her own hand, trying to weigh up what may happen if she did anything but failing utterly; there was no way she could ever predict anything like this ever in her life time. She had to go with her gut feeling; she'd never turned down a call for help in her life and she couldn't now; it just wasn't in her to walk away. Slowly, eyes not meeting those of her own reflection, she extended her own hand, fingertips erect and questing for those that were visible to her. There was a slight rocking of the jewel, movement of the stone brought the pair together and their fingertips met.
Freedom beckoned.
Espio suddenly snapped his eyes open, his relaxed body conveying the ripple that had passed through the ground as though he had been merged with the sand. The chameleon brought himself swiftly to his feet as his agile mind quickly worked out the most likely cause of such a shift in the ground; all he needed was confirmation.
"You two feel that?" Obviously not in the case of Charmy, but Vec might have; the crocodile turned towards his smaller friend and squinted; Espio sighed as he realised his skin had done what came naturally and, with a second's thought, reverted to his normal, purple colour. Vector lowered the headphones of his battered old walkman and asked,
"You say something".
"You feel that?" Espio repeated as Charmy landed, looking at the chameleon with a hint of concern in his expression, "it felt like something in the earth shifted".
"No, I didn't feel anything", the crocodile had known Espio too long not to believe him though, "but if you said there was something, there was and…"
"Radio Amy", Charmy broke in urgently; explaining as the others looked over at him, "a shift in the earth, or a shift below it?"
"Oh Hell", Vector realised the bee's suspicions and cold fear flooded him; as he reached for the partner of the radio Amy wore, he mentally cursed himself; he should have insisted at least one of the Chaotix had accompanied her. The other two watched on helpless as the crocodile quickly spoke down the receiver of the machine.
"Amy, Amy come in".
It was still dark, even when she was sure her eyes were open, it was still as black as pitch and she couldn't see anything. But then, sight wasn't important now, nothing was; she was finally and utterly content, at peace with the world and all within it; the tiny object in her left hand was all she needed now. Amy was sure she was lying on her back and should be looking up, except it was too dark. She could have lain like this forever and, in fact, was just raising her arms to support her head when something in the pocket of her dress crackled into life and a rough, uncultured voice intruded onto her restful state of mind.
"Amy, Amy come in". Vector then; she lazily removed the radio from her pocket, what could he want? She flipped the dial to send remarkably easily for one who had no vision, and answered carelessly,
"I'm here Vector, what is it?" Up on the surface, the leader of the Chaotix gave a relieved thumbs-up to his team-mates and answered as at least one of them blew a visible sigh of relief,
"Nice one Ames; listen, I think you should head back now; night's on the way and I don't want to have to camp out here". That's not a problem – I shouldn't keep them waiting.
"Alright then; I'm on my way back now. I'll contact you when I'm at the base of the shaft".
"Right, hustle it up though; it gets cold fast out here now". There was a click as the radio was shut off and Amy, after reclining for just a second longer, heaved herself into a sitting position and nudging something with one of her legs; she later identified it as her flashlight. She flicked it on, realising as she did that she was at the entrance of the, er, Amy crossed her eyes; what was that way? It was something important, she knew that much, but she hadn't the faintest clue what that tunnel led to, though it didn't seem important. Oh well, probably doesn't matter; I know I found what I came for. The pink hedgehog took a couple of slow breaths, rejoicing in her new-found freedom for a second before recalling her promise to her employees and heading for the surface.
Charmy hadn't waited for the radio; he had taken off before either of his friends could stop him and had dropped back to the bottom of the shaft. He had originally planned on following the trail of paint Amy was supposed to have left but he quickly realised that would have been a bad plan; he could barely pick even the white paint out in the oppressive gloom and following it could have resulted in him getting lost down here; not a prospect he relished in the least. Well, I'm not going back without her; I'm waiting right here; the bee sat down and crossed his arms, peering into the blackness in front of him as though it were an augury he could see into. He didn't know how long it was, sitting alone in the eternal darkness, before a lone, single sunbeam lanced through the murk of night and reassured his doubts completely.
"Amy", the bee shouted as he stood up, "over here".
"Charmy?" The hedgehog quickened her pace and shone the flashlight forwards, inadvertently shining it right into the insect's eyes and causing him to stagger backwards in the sudden glare.
"Yeah, point that thing someplace else" he demanded, trying to clear the after-images from his retinas by continual blinking as he heard rather than saw his client approach. Amy smiled apprehensively at the youngest member of the Chaotix and tapped her foot.
"Charmy, didn't I tell you to stay up there until I called?"
"Maybe", he admitted before explaining his reasoning, "but Espio said he felt something like a tremor in the soil; I thought it might have been a cave-in or something. I was down here in case the way back was blocked for you. Plus it is getting pretty cold up there and Esp and Vec really don't do cold nights".
"Fair enough, and thanks as well", Amy's apprehensive smile bloomed into one of appreciation and she ruffled his antennae gently, "nice to know one of you lot looks out for me". Charmy fought her hand off as he tried to stop himself laughing.
"Hehey, cut it out; that tickles", he took to the air gently and offered his hands, "you find what you came for?" In the darkness, the bee missed Amy's expression as she relived the sensation of release she now felt,
"Oh yes, I found it". The bee rose into the air with his passenger, upwards towards the disc of fading sunlight that represented freedom from this dark, dank mine system and the secret it contained.
The drive back was easy enough; one quick stop for petrol was the only delay the group as a whole faced. Amy spoke little throughout the trip, even dozing off for short periods of it and awakening fully rested; no more would she be plagued by nightmares or hindered by dreams of running to a destination she was sure she had reached. The Chaotix were similarly quiet; Charmy had fallen asleep almost as soon as the car had started up; Amy guessed the flights into the mine had tired him more than he had let on, Vector was concentrating on driving and the music she could hear pumping gently out of his headphones as he remembered the route back perfectly. Espio, well, she didn't really look at Espio much; she was still ticked off with his attitude and his general demeanour so tried to avoid glancing at him whenever possible; the fact that he was sat directly behind her doubtless aiding this desire. The clock on the dashboard, which Vector had reminded her was still tuned to summer time as neither he nor any mechanic he had ever come across had figured out how to reconfigure it, was blinking the time of 10:45 when they pulled into Station Square.
"Hey Ames", Vector's voice jarred the rose hedgehog out of her most recent rest, "where's your apartment from her; we'll drop you off there". Hmm, that's nice of them;
"If you go to where you picked me up and I'll guide you from there; you can just drop me off at the park and I'll walk you know?"
"No way", the crocodile's voice was heavy with authority, though it was low to try and prevent Charmy waking up, "we'll drop you off at home; no telling who's on the streets this late at night".
"Well, if you're sure…"
"We are"; Espio's voice cut in from behind her and effectively ended the conversation – the ninja's tone and voice in general cut through diplomacy like one of his ninja stars sliced through tissue paper. As the park loomed closer, the hedgehog leant forwards and pointed the way; not five minutes later, her apartment block was in sight.
The ancient car sputtered to a halt and Amy slowly opened the passenger door, sliding her legs free and stepping out onto the pavement as Vector watched on. After stretching some feeling into her legs and stamping out the pins and needles jabbing her feet Amy turned to the Chaotix and reached for her purse.
"Right, how much did you want again?" Vector tapped his thick fingers against the steering wheel before seeming to come to a decision and answering,
"With expenses included, call it forty-five and we're square".
"Fair enough", Amy gave a run down of what the extras had been and realised she was getting a decent deal here; the paint alone had probably cost more than five, "here's the cash I owe you; good to work with you". The crocodile pocketed the money in his belt and nodded,
"Likewise; see you sometime Ames and tell your friends about us". That last sentence struck a chord; a sudden fear gripped the hedgehog and she re-opened the door just before Vector could engage first gear,
"Wait, you won't tell anyone about this will you – I'm just so embarrassed I had to go back for this thing" she offered as Vector raised an impromptu eyebrow; I don't think that's the whole truth here, but we're a business and the last thing we need is a consumer confidence crisis.
"Don't panic, we're confidential – won't let anyone know about this unless you specifically give us the say-so, cool?"
"Thanks, means a lot; well, I better let you guys go – see you around". She swung the door shut and the car pulled off, still stuttering as it worked up speed to move into the dangerous territory of second gear. Amy waited until it had completed a ponderous three-point turn and returned Vector's slight wave as the Chaotix Detective Agency disappeared around the corner of her street.
Whew, I beat, but I'm so happy; I did it, I know I did and I'm so glad it's all over; despite her tiredness, Amy Rose's face was wreathed in a triumphant smile as she slid open her front door and stepped inside, closing it behind her as she let her small bag slide to the floor. She wasn't feeling hungry and she reasoned she'd have a shower first thing; she needed to change her bedding in the morning anyway; she just felt like a decent forty winks. And this time; the mischievous section of her mind had a little license to roam as she slid between the sheets of her big, warm bed; I know it's going to be a decent night's sleep. The effect was almost instant; Amy's eyelids simply sealed themselves closed and the lullaby of the night's whisper and the gentle warmth of her own body heat combined to pull her under the gossamer blanket of sleep. Soon, the only sounds of the apartment were Amy's gentle snores, just as it had been last night, and the night before, and for all the previous nights she had occupied this apartment as a tenant. This night, however, there was a single difference present that set it apart from every other, single night she had spent within these four walls.
Amy Rose was not alone this night.
Unknown to her thoughts and independent of her own mind and body, the pink hedgehog opened her eyes under the guidance of a second, more powerful and much more ancient psyche; the reflections of a pale gibbous moon were visiblein the eyes in Amy's face that were now no longerher own; something elselooked out upon the world, and saw that all was good.
"I am free".
A/N: Okay, from here on in, it starts getting a bit freakier; I may change the rating if the story goes the way I want it to. As you can guess this now means the 'being' is talking/acting in Amy's body (there are elements of possession in this story from now on; if you're not comfortable with this I suggest you read no further – consider thine-selves warned).
Have a pleasant evening – Muahahahahahahaha!