Hello, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to chapter 15! (Loud music plays) It is late but it is lengthy- 7726 words long!
-Ahem- Anyway, here it is. Read it, review it, love it, send me great sums of money, rinse, repeat, and leave in the sun to dry. No batteries required.
"What do you think it is, Fliara?"
It was a fitting question, for Shadow, at the time, certainly didn't know what it was and the dragon was the next best bet for information. In addition, the 'it' in question was astoundingly obtrusive to it's enveloping environment- it's identity needed to be known.
The cobblestone halls that the group had trod through day after day had come to an abrupt halt, and in between the two ends of the interrupted pathway was a room, rectangular in shape and as deep and wide as a gymnasium. In other words, the road had led them to a large room, the entrance to the hall- and the rest of the labyrinth- on the other side. But the room was not entirely unsuspicious; it was a pool. The entire room- whose floor seemed to be submersed in an unfathomable depth of water (That's a pun. You will laugh now.) - Was filled with H20.
The surface was uncannily calm and glassy, and would have been mistaken for a solid walkway if not for the slight ripples, caused by dripping of water from an open-ended pipe jutting out from the left-hand wall. Apparently this pipe had been used to fill the room a long time beforehand- but now it appeared unused, it's surface coated in rust.
Shadow walked outside the perimeter of the hall- for a small platform jutted about a meter across the water- and knelt down at the edge, cautiously dipping his finger into the water and then pulling it back out with equal caution. The ripples caused by his movements traveled slowly over the surface of the water, doubled back on themselves twice, then disappeared as their motion had been absorbed by the stone.
"It looks just like normal water to me." He commented. "I don't think there's anything dangerous about it- we should be able to swim across. I don't think we should try drinking any of it though; who knows what Dan-Chilack couldn't have done to this water." The hedgehog then stood up, and faced his comrades. "Fliara, what is this thing doing here? It's not providing much of a hindrance, so what could it serve in Dan-Chilack's plan?"
The dragon sighed, and held a claw to her chin, placing the other hand on her elbow.
"It didn't say anything about the pool in the books. But then again we are at the point where the shaman stopped writing down a lot of the things they saw- and who knows if this building's layout is the same as the last one." She spread out her wings and glided over to the platform where Shadow stood, kneeling down to examine the water as she landed. "As for why it's here and what we should do about it- I think it's probably just some form of water sanitation or maybe irrigation. I doubt that Dan-chilack has a huge necessity for clean water and even if he does all this could possibly be, at worst, a waste disposal." The dragon turned around and sat down, facing her comrades. "But then again I don't think ghosts and demons would even have use for that- most of them only have physical bodies when they're attacking and I'm not sure they even give off any material byproducts."
She stood up and sighed heavily, letting her wings droop.
"In short- I have no idea why the hell it's here- but I think that we should just get through and not worry about it too much." She concluded, turning back around and walking towards the pool.
"W-wait a minute, Fliara! This could be a trap! Something could be living down there; don't you think we should approach a bit more cautiously?" Knuckles asked, reaching out a gloved hand in attempts to hold her back.
"Don't be silly!" The dragon replied with a grin, pivoting around on her left foot before Knuckles could grasp her arm. "There's nothing in that pool! Look how smooth the surface is! If there was anything down there, it would at least have to breathe, and even that would put enough disturbance on the water to let us know." She reassured him, placing her claws on her hips and smiling confidently- more confidently than she ever had before. Fliara rarely took the opportunity to feel 100 percent sure on anything, always depending on that 1 percent possibility that she could be wrong- reminding herself of her own mortality. But now she was completely sure, and Knuckles took that as a very good sign, with how cautious she usually was.
But still- his instincts were telling him to take every precaution- in a place like this, you had to stay on your toes for any circumstance, and even if Fliara was sure of herself, he was going to go the extra step to determine the safety of the team.
"I still think we should be careful- from what I've seen and heard so far, Dan-Chilack may be predictable but he's not stupid to put something so frivolous in our way that won't serve his cause." He argued. Fliara groaned, and hung her head.
"Aww, Knux! That isn't fair: you're using my own words against me!" She commented, scuffing her heel against the ground. "I know, I'm always saying 'look before you leap' and everything but I've looked and it's safe!" She declared. Knuckles' gaze hardened, and Fliara chuckled nervously, realizing he wasn't convinced.
"Fine, I'll go check it out and prove I'm right." She said, walking to the edge of the platform and warming up her wings, rotating them in their sockets. Knuckles grinned smugly, and shook his head.
"I bet my gloves that something's going to go wrong and we'll have to save your sorry hide." He commented, wagging a finger at the dragon. She matched his smug grin with a fanged one of her own, and turned to meet his gaze.
"Well I bet the hair on my head that there's nothing wrong!" She shot back, still grinning. She took a running start at the platform and jumped into the air, taking flight as she glided across the pool. She fluttered over to the other side of the large gap, and landed, turning to look back at her friends. The dragon waved.
"I hope you're not getting to attach to those gloves, Knux!" She joked, jumping back into the air again, this time making a point to zigzag over the surface.
Sonic stared uneasily out at the huge quantity of water, and even more concerned at the dragon flying leisurely above it.
"This really isn't like Fliara... I've never known her to bet on anything- she usually only goes for the option that's absolutely certain to be true." He said, staring discontentedly out at the dragon. Amy's eyes widened and she looked down at the hedgehog. It was normal for Sonic to criticize Fliara but his tone seemed almost concerned.
"Well maybe she's absolutely certain about it. Have some faith in her; she's not all that bad." She suggested, making a point to ruffle his quills when she was finished. He was acting too seriously- she could tell that the hedgehog needed to lighten up. Sonic smiled back up at her and returned the affection with a hug, at which he left his arms hanging around her shoulders.
"No, I mean just how she's acting. It's weird, you know... " he commented. Sonic once again looked out at Fliara, who was still fluttering over the water. The disturbance in the air, created by the flapping of her wings, caused the surface to waver and ripple, which made Sonic uneasy. "Okay, dragon-girl: stop showing off! Come on, get back here and fly us all across!" He requested. The dragon paused and hovered halfway between the two halls, grinning as she placed her claws once again on her hips.
"What's wrong, are you too scared to swim?" She replied with a fanged grin.
A slight rustle was heard from behind the group, and surprisingly Alexi stepped closer to the water's edge, glaring at the dragon.
"You know the others don't trust that water- and with good reason. You're the only one who can fly, so stop acting so weird, Fliara, and get them across." The leopard added. Shadow looked back at her- still mad at what she had said to him- but lightly surprised.
"You know; it wouldn't hurt for you to actually associate yourself to us once in a while. You're not that powerful, you shameless, lying, b-"
"Itch-that's it! 5 down is itch!" Knuckles exclaimed, filling in a blank spot on his crossword puzzle. The surrounding heroes at first stared at him quizzically, but then turned to the matter at hand.
"It's perfectly safe, I'm sure!" Said Fliara, not hearing the argument between Shadow and Alexi. "Watch, I'll prove it..." She trailed off, letting the motion of her wings slow...
Knuckles dropped the previously mentioned crossword puzzle, and glared out at his scaly sister.
"Don't do it, Fliara!" Shouted Knuckles, before the dragon submerged herself in the water. She swam around a little before treading water in the middle of the pool, staring back at her friends.
"Don't worry, Knuckles, I'm fine!" She said, jumping back out of the water and hovering. "Now why don't you guys swim across and we can get to the-"
There was a huge roar, and the water erupted as a tentacle burst from the previously calm surface. The black limb coiled itself quickly around the dragon before she had time to react, and dragged her into the water with another resounding splash.
"FLIARA!" Shouted Knuckles, running to the edge of the pedestal and preparing to jump in the water, before another eruption occurred and the group was sent flying back as a wall of water slammed into them, knocking them a few feet back into the corridor. As the water spread and settled in the labyrinth's halls, the group came too and jumped to their feet, ankle-deep in water.
"W-what happened!" Sputtered Sonic, coughing as Amy helped him to his feet.
"Look out!" Yelled Shadow, pushing Sonic and Amy out of the way as another of the black, octopus-like tentacles sprang from the darkened room before them and into the light of the lantern, (it was a waterproof electric lantern.) attempting to grab one of the team. (The room had been previously illuminated by Fliara, but now she was underwater.)
Missing its previous goal of the two young hedgehogs, it whipped back and seized Shadow in its grasp. The hedgehog cried out in anguish, but was pulled from the vision of the team as more roars of moving water flooded the halls.
"Shadow- you...!" Alexi shouted, taking her pistol and attempting to run into the darkness, when suddenly there was a cry that rang throughout the halls, causing all to stop in their tracks.
"Ahrakha immulihanio!" Came Shadow's voice from the darkness, and immediately the room before them was illuminated with a bright sphere of light, positioned near the ceiling. There came a shrill, beast-like cry. The heroes briefly shielded their eyes but soon turned to look, stunned at what they saw.
Before them, splashing amongst the large pool was a huge monster, nearly indescribable in shape. A spherical turtle shell, black in color, made up it's body while both four fins of a sea turtle and eight arms of an octopus (tail and head not yet accounted for) sprung from twelve holes on the rim of the shell. The tail went for many meters before splitting into the web of a fish's tail fin, (spines running down the length of the limb) and it's head, turtle-shaped, was adorned with many sharp teeth and numerous red eyes, spikes and horns protruding backwards on it's head and neck.
For a second the team was dumbstruck, and stared at the beast in surprise and distress, when it made a point of slapping it's fins onto the water, and lowering it's head as a deep, booming battle cry rang from it's throat. The resounding splash from it's fins sent a good two feet of water flying in all directions, and the force of it nearly dragged the group to their knees. As the water continued to pull on their legs and push them further from the battle scene, Knuckles took the opportunity to ram his shovel-claws into the stone wall. Immediately he had a sound grip on the terrain and reached a hand out to Sonic and Amy, who were nearly getting swept away by the current. The blue hedgehog grabbed his hand and soon the two were gaining their footing as well.
"Are you okay?" Knuckles shouted over another war cry, as the beast now scooped water in it's two front turtle fins and propelled it towards the hall- once again bombarding the team with water. Once it had flown far enough down the hall that our heroes were not submerged, Sonic shook the water from his quills and replied.
"I think we're fine for now!" He yelled back, for the roar of the water was nearly deafening. Knuckles looked from Sonic, to Amy, and then to Alexi, who was hanging on to a rock that jutted from the wall.
"Alexi! Come over he-" He began, before the leopard jumped away from the rock and ran up the flooded hall to the room. The echidna stood there, wet, constantly bombarded by water, and trying to cling to the rock wall- confused as to why Alexi was doing this.
As the leopard neared the pedestal where the group had previously stood, she once again took out her pistol and shot towards the turtle-demon, causing it to flinch before it could bombard the team with another wall-sized-wave. She then quickly looked around, spotting Fliara and Shadow- who were gripped in the turtle's tentacles. As she aimed her gun for the limb that held Shadow, however, blasts of the bullet were already heard and it took her a moment to realize Shadow was already shooting at the tentacle. Fairly soon the limb recoiled and dropped the black hedgehog into the turbulent waves, at which Alexi took no hesitance to jump in after him.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was 'climbing' arm-length by arm-length up the tunnel while fighting back the attempts, however distracted by Alexi and Shadow they were, to drive them back. Although the assaults of waves were diminishing drastically, motion was still difficult and it wasn't helped by the fact that he was carrying the weight of three people: Sonic, Amy and himself. The noise and chaos of it all was unnerving and it was getting difficult to concentrate over the roar of waves. He struggled further up the hall.
Alexi quickly seized the black hedgehog and swam quickly to her left as one of the beast's tentacles slammed into the water after her. Her eyes widened in acknowledgement as the tentacle curled upwards and started making its way towards the pair once again, attempting to grab them.
The leopard reacted quickly, and although it was difficult to see and move under the murky water, she swung her feet to face the tentacle. As it moved to grab them, she slammed her heel through the water and against the limb, propelling her towards the surface and the limb to the ground.
Alexi used the momentum from the kick to swim her way over to the pedestal- but the Turtle, previously preoccupied with Fliara (who was struggling, but unable to use her fire, had no way out) noticed the two. Turning with another cry, it attempted to slam them against the wall with its fin.
Shadow caught sight of it before Alexi did, and although slightly disoriented he was able to aim his gun at the turtle's head and distract it. Immediately the fin gave up its pursuit and raised to act as a shield, as bullets bounced off the thick hide of it's shell and fins. The black hedgehog scowled. Was there no way to beat this thing?
As Alexi climbed onto the pedestal and dropped Shadow onto the stone, the two quickly stood and turned around to see the beast recoiling slightly, still holding it's fin to it's head. Finally, after it seemed to recover from the attack, it slammed the fin back into the water and straightened its lengthy neck (about the length of its shell) in another war cry, which caused the heroes to flinch and cover their ears. It was insanely loud and every time it seemed to get louder.
"I used an illumination spell that was in one of Fliara's books!" Shadow yelled. He turned and looked behind him at Knuckles and the others, who were in range of the battle now that the waves had stopped. "But I don't know how we can stop this thing!"
"Where's Fliara?" Demanded Knuckles, letting go of Sonic and Amy as he ran onto the pedestal. If another wave came, he could just dig his gloves into the stone and this time no one would get swept away. Alexi looked between Shadow and Knuckles, and then at the beast, whose head was swaying back and forth as it observed its prey.
A tentacle lunged out to grab them, but Alexi whipped out her knife and stabbed it hilt-deep into the limb, causing it to jolt back, at an alarming rate, to it's shell. The demon drew back a little, not as eager to make the first move.
"That demon has her! The last I saw of her, she was grasped in one of the tentacles!" The leopard answered, taking out her gun and again shooting at the turtle's head, which caused it to go back to the defensive stance, it's limbs swaying at the ready. "I don't think she's hurt, but if you want to let it stay that way, Knuckles, it's best that we take this thing down before it gets the chance!"
Shadow looked up and down the beast, trying to glance a weak point, when he saw an area of discolored water- caused from blood- leaking from the stab wound on it's front-left octopus limb. He stood there, motionless, for a second, but then grinned. Of course!
"Guys! I have a plan!" He announced. Quickly, he handed his extra pistol to Sonic, and then gave Knuckles a belt-full of grenades. The red echidna stared down at them blankly, but then quickly looked up as the turtle gave another loud, fog-horn like cry, it's fin again in the attacking position and it's tentacles waving madly.
"Do you mind telling us this 'amazing' plan?" Growled Alexi, trying to aim her gun at the tentacles, but basically firing bullets into the wall behind them. "Gah! It's too fast! I can't get a good shot!"
"Don't waste your ammo!" Shadow declared, reaching into his pack and pulling out a flare gun. "Fliara packed this in case the group got separated. But I have a different idea." He declared, clipping it to his glove. "Sonic, you stay here and fire at the turtle's head every time it tries to put its fins back in the water! That will keep it's front fins busy- we won't have to worry about the waves. Knuckles, you get on the turtles back and try to distract some of the tentacles- use those grenades as you please! Meanwhile, Alexi and Amy will handle the other fins! Don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing! But when I give the signal, Sonic, STOP FIRING! It dos one of those war-cries every time it goes off defensive, and this time I'll be ready for it!" He declared, loading the flare gun. "Everybody got that?"
"I don't want Sonic to be fighting! Not in his condition!" Amy yelled. Shadow turned to her, his gaze stern.
"He'll be fine as long as he stays here on the platform! Besides, Amy, you're the best swimmer here and we need you in the battle!" The black hedgehog elaborated, turning back to face the turtle.
Amy looked with concerned eyes from the form of the hideous beast to the slightly trembling body of Sonic, a gun in his hand and a sad, confused, and yet strangely determined expression on his face. Even if she didn't like it, she knew that Shadow was right, at least in this scenario. She kneeled down next to him and gave the hedgehog a brief hug, ignoring the noises of the water, the demon and her friends.
"Promise me nothing will happen to you." She requested before standing and staring down at him as she awaited an answer. There wasn't much time; already the monster was preparing to make its next move. Sonic briefly nodded and she sighed, giving him a very quick kiss on the forehead before running up to the platform.
"I'm going in, Shadow!" She announced, diving into the water. Shadow nodded and quickly turned to the others as the turtle slapped its fin back into the depths, screaming once again.
"Let's go!" He announced. Sonic immediately aimed the gun at the turtle's head, and after one bullet connected its fins shot up from the water to guard itself. Why it could not draw its head within its shell was beyond him; but then again sea turtles did not have that ability either. Knuckles and Alexi dived into the water and swam to the sides of the demon, jumping onto its shell to join Amy. They hesitated momentarily, for Shadow hadn't moved yet.
"What are you doing?" Knuckles demanded, jamming his spiked fist into a soft spot between the plates on the turtles back. The beast gave a shriek and almost immediately a tentacle sprung form the water and plucked him from its back, slamming Knuckles down into the water. But as it lifted the echidna back up and prepared to throw him against the near-bye stone wall, Knuckles jammed his fist into the limb, causing it to release him. The echidna fell onto the turtle's back, relatively unharmed.
"I'll be back in a second! Get all of those tentacles out of the water!" Shadow declared, turning around and running... down the hall away from the battle? Alexi looked up from the octopus limb she had been stabbing (it was trying to grab her) and her eyes narrowed threateningly.
"What do you think you're doing, Shadow?" She yelled, tearing the blade out and jumping backwards, further up the turtle's back. The other tentacle that had been trying to swipe at her tore through thin air- but the third one caught her around the waist. The leopard 'teleported' (burst into flame -small particles- and reassembled somewhere else. Think of night crawler from X-men only with more fire. Yeah. You now understand.) And reappeared back on the turtle shell.
Amy Rose was having similar luck. Her amazing, flying, infinite supply of hammers was more than enough to keep one or two of the limbs in check, but there were too many and every so often she'd get picked up and thrown somewhere.
"We don't enjoy being left in the dark, Shadow!" She shouted, having to agree with Alexi on this one. No response came from the darkened halls, and She shook her head, turning back to the task at hand- kicking major aquatic demon but. Or at least trying- it was much easier said than done.
"Forget him!" Knuckles exclaimed, picking a grenade from his belt and throwing it at the farthest tentacle. It stuck to one of the suction-cups and exploded seconds after impact, leaving a half-exploded stump. The turtle screamed, lowered its fin and went crazy, all it's limbs flinging through the air. Try as they might- the heroes could no longer get a good aim on anything- it was moving around too much.
Suddenly, the demon's motions stopped momentarily, before it slammed all the limbs on one side of its body down, and lifted all the limbs on the other side up. It took Alexi, knuckles and Amy a second to catch on, but they jumped off the turtle as it rolled over in the water, coming to a stop after it's complete 360 degree barrel roll was finished. Thankfully, Sonic shot at it before it could give the others any more attention, and its front fins were preoccupied once more.
Knuckles paddled his way back onto the creature's shell- and looked around for any sight of Amy and Alexi. The leopard and hedgehog were fine, as he discovered, but he also saw a portion of red floating off in the southwest corner of the room.
"Fliara!" He shouted, preparing to swim out to her. Before he could jump off the turtle's shell, however, one of the seven remaining tentacles slammed into him like a baseball bat- and had a similar effect. The echidna was sent flying and splashed into the water on the opposite side of the large room. In comparison to the turtle, which was give or take the size of two commercial busses, the room was probably three or four 'turtles' wide and six to seven turtles long. In synopsis: it was big, and the echidna did not enjoy being flung so far.
The turtle reached out and pulled Fliara' s motionless body back into it's grasp.
"She'll be okay- we'll get a hold of her later!" Shouted Amy. "Come on- use those grenades!"
Knuckles nodded and jumped from the water, gliding, and once he came close enough he threw a grenade at the nearest fin.
However, the turtle batted the grenade away before it could detonate, and the grenade exploded harmlessly on the stone wall to the group's left.
"Damn!" Knuckles exclaimed before ending his glide and landing feet-first on the turtle's shell. The problem was that if the grenade didn't detonate before the turtle could get it away, then he might as well be shooting in the dark. He'd need to wait before throwing this time- if the side of the tentacle with suction-cups was facing him then the odds were it would work this time. But how was he going to do that- the only way to get close enough to be sure would be...
Knuckles' eyes lit up in discovery and he ran to the side of the turtle shell, grabbing on to the base of a tentacle.
Amy, after smashing one of the lengthy limbs with her hammer, noticed what he was doing, and wasn't at all happy with the discovery.
"Knuckles! Get away from there before it grabs you!" She shouted, swatting away another one of the tentacles. Knuckles ignored her, and didn't resist as the tentacle sprang form the water and wrapped itself around him, preparing to throw him again.
The red echidna reacted quickly, and, ignoring the pain, stuck the grenade on one of the tentacles, then slamming his Knuckles into the limb and pulling the pin from it's place. The result; Knuckles was dropped in the water. As another tentacle struggled to get the grenade off, it exploded, leaving both limbs immobilized and bloody.
Meanwhile, Shadow stood about ten meters away from the battle, standing motionless in the dark hall. It was about time his plan went into action.
"Stop firing!" He yelled to Sonic, who turned to look at him before nodding, and placing the gun on the ground. Shadow then started up a run- a slow one, to both build up momentum and make sure he didn't get there before...
The turtle, seeing Sonic's efforts halted, once again slammed its fin against the water and lowered it's head, preparing to scream out another war-cry.
But this time- Shadow was ready for it.
The black hedgehog jumped from the platform and onto the turtle's head, almost falling off as it's yanked it's head back in surprise, aware that an unwanted guest was currently seeking residence on top of its skull. Shadow gripped one of the horns sprouting from the back of it's head and held on- the turtle shook violently, even thrust it's head into the water in attempts to get Shadow OFF!
"What is he doing?" Demanded Amy, about to fight off the tentacles before a great majority of them sprung to the turtle's head, clawing and pulling on Shadow, attempting to rip him to shreds. Before long, all visibility of the hedgehog was gone, and this was not taken well by the rest of the group.
"SHADOW!" Yelled Alexi, eyes darting around for any site of him; but it was all a mess of tentacles, fins and teeth.
Suddenly, a loud 'bang!' rang through the room, and the turtle gave a brief and abrupt cry. Suddenly, all motion of the limbs stopped, and the tentacles fell to the water, revealing Shadow hanging onto the horn at the base of the turtle's chin- the flare gun pointed straight into it's throat, towards it's brain, and smoking from the last time it was fired.
Loud pops sounded as the flare detonated from somewhere within the turtle's skull- and with a last shrill cry and a violent shudder- the turtle finally and completely died.
The group stood in near disbelief- their gazes of awe slowly being replaced by sighs of relief. The turtle completely collapsed as all neurological function ceased- its head, along with Shadow, falling slowly into the water. It's limbs, fins and tail sunk to a non-functioning position and the shell slowly lowered into the sea as it's lungs and stomach took on water from it's gaping, dead mouth. It continued to sink like a rock, its previously bright eyes now lost in the depths.
Shadow floated there, on the surface, only feet from where the turtle had rested its head and died. He stared down, as finally the corpse of the beast was lost in the darkness, probably hundreds of feet below them. The pool must have been very deep.
For some strange reason, Shadow felt a sense of loss. In the exhilaration of battle, he hadn't considered what he would feel like afterwards- he hadn't suspected. It was a strange feeling- he wasn't sure how he could feel sad and apathetic at the same time- but for a strange reason, the monster's death had that effect on him.
The group had already jumped off and they now floated on the surface of the water, staring at the empty space left in the beast's absence. Sonic gave a quite audible sigh of relief, and nearly collapsed against the stone wall next to him, a small laugh rising from his throat.
"...We did it." He sighed- this battle had been particularly draining for him. "...We did it. It's really dead."
For a second the heroes nodded, when suddenly, Knuckles spun around in the water, his expression alarmed.
"Wait!" He shouted, catching the attention of the other heroes. "Fliara! Where's Fliara!"
Their eyes widened and they looked amongst each other, shocked- he was right! Where was she?
"Y- you don't think..." Shadow began, looking into the depths. Had the turtle dragged her down with it?
The echidna's expression grew more frantic at Shadow's words. "Fliara!" Knuckles called out, looking to all corners of the room.
Suddenly, a gasp was heard as Fliara surfaced a few meters away, panting for air as she flapped her wings, struggling to get out of the water.
"Fliara!" The echidna exclaimed; afterwards swimming like lighting towards her, and grabbing the dragon by her shoulders. "Fliara, how dare you! I told you to be careful!" He shouted. "Just what did you think you were doing! Fliara, if I ever catch you doing something so careless ever again... I..." Knuckles slowed, at a loss for words, just shaking his head sadly at the dragon, exhausted from the battle.
"...Knuckles?" She asked, looking up at her brother, slightly ashamed. He was caught of guard, and tried to keep his gaze firm as he glared down at her.
"What?" He asked, releasing the dragon's shoulders and paying more attention to keeping himself afloat. The rest of the group swum a little closer, (except for Sonic) curious to the outcome.
"...You're not going to make me cut my hair, are you?" She asked sheepishly, lowering her gaze to her claws, resting on the water's surface in front of her collarbone.
Knuckles stared at her in disbelief for a few moments... before laughing out loud and seizing his little sister in a hug.
"You...! Ah, for goodness sakes, no, Fliara! Just don't do anything like that again!" He announced.
Amy smiled, for all was well. She turned to look at Sonic, who was sitting, rather exhausted upon the pedestal, leaning into the stone. His half-lidded eyes left the floor they were previously focused on and he looked up at her, returning her smile with one of his own. She swam away from the reunited siblings and pulled herself onto the pedestal where Sonic sat, placing herself next to him. He still leaned against the wall, staring out at the four remaining group members.
"You look tired." She said, surrounding his exhausted body with her own. Sonic smiled lightly and sat up a little straighter, resting his head upon her shoulder. She moved to accommodate to his position- she now sat up straight as Sonic leaned against her.
"...Yeah, a little." He responded, closing his eyes. Amy laughed slightly.
"I think we should set up camp. We need a break after all of that."
The group now sat around the electric heater, each dwelling in their own reaction to the battle. Nearly all were covered in marks from the potently dangerous suction-cups of the turtle's tentacles- and all had bruises aplenty. Sonic was the only one excluded, for he had sat the battle out on the pedestal. But besides him, the group all appeared- physically, anyway- worse for wear. Their fur was matted and scraggly and their wounds seemed to be multiplying in numbers as the days went by. But the important thing was their eyes had found a new light- ...well, most of them, anyway.
Sonic was resting, his head lain upon Amy's lap as she carefully draped a blanket over him, afterwards softly stroking a hand across his arm. The hedgehog had truly exerted himself in the battle, and in addition to his condition it hadn't turned out as well as usual. But the battle was over and now he could relax. He did feel greatly accomplished, though- after about a week of being living, breathing dead weight he was glad to have added to the victory. Sonic was all the happier after the completion of the battle, and achieved renewed strength.
Fliara wasn't out of the doghouse yet for being so careless- as Knuckles clearly defined- and the echidna, although happy she was safe- was still giving her a hard time about it. The dragon was sulking in response to this, and even though a victory had been accomplished, was no better off. The siblings both knew that they were happy for the other's safety- but they did a good job of hiding it. Even so, both Fliara and Knuckles were, inwardly, anyways- happier than when the battle started.
But Shadow was the worst off of all. For some reason a tinge of guilt- for the death of the beast- rang through him. And not only that...
...Shadow dared to let his gaze wander to Alexi. He could have sworn he had heard her scream his name in the battle. And was it not her who dived in after him? Was it possible... that she might have compassion towards him?
But Shadow was not about to forgive her of her lies. If anything, he was suspicious- was she up to her usual mind-games? Perhaps she had merely shown a sliver of concern in order to win over his trust. Alexi was convinced that the secret to her demise was stashed somewhere in the depths of Shadow's forgotten past. He knew that was the only reason she maintained contact with the group, the only reason why they were the ones her blade never found- or more accurately- would try to find. Alexi might not be able to kill any of them- but then again she never slept...
Shadow was caught off-guard when Alexi looked up to find him staring at her. Shadow quickly looked away, his eyes panning across the stone wall to make it seem he hadn't been looking directly at her. He knew she wouldn't fall for it- but he couldn't look her in the eye right now. He might do something that he'd regret.
He was absolutely fumed at her. How could she dare lie about such a sensitive topic...? He hated not knowing what had happened to him in his past- but at least he knew... or he thought he knew... Alexi must be lying.
Shadow looked up, this time at Sonic and Amy.
It was true- Sonic did have a few resemblances to him, mostly the nose, and the ears... And his speed was unusual- no hedgehog with normal parents could have obtained those abilities. Maybe with the assistance of chaos power, but no creature besides specially created beings such as himself could harness that power. But if that was so, then how could Sonic?
...And his eyes... Shadow subconsciously thought. He has Alexi's eyes...
Shocked at himself, the dark-furred hedgehog cast the thoughts away and shook his head to prevent their return. The last thing he could have done at this moment would to have added to the list of reasons that Alexi's lies made sense. Shadow cursed under his breath and glared at the stone floor. That was the worst thing about Alexi's story- is that it would explain so many things. It had so many opportunities to be right. But then again what reason did Alexi have to tell the truth? Again he was back at square one.
Shadow stood up and looked down the stone hallway, sighing heavily.
"Guys, I'm going to go for a walk. I... I need to be alone for a while..." He explained, picking up a lantern and walking down the hall. The group gave muffled acknowledgements and nodded, but then returned to whatever it was they had been doing beforehand.
He scoffed lightly to himself, but still had to grin. His friends knew from experience that when Shadow wanted to be alone, you left him alone.
Except for Alexi.
Shadow's grin disappeared and he let his gaze fall to his feet as he walked. Damn her- he couldn't get the thought out of his head. ...It was just that... what... what if she was right?
No. No. No. No. NO! The day he would start to believe her lies would be the day that he decided to take up ballroom dancing as a hobby. It just wasn't going to happen.
Okay, so he didn't need to believe her, but he could still think about it. If Alexi knew anything about his past... then yes, he would like to know about it. That was safe to conclude. And Alexi knew that. That was also safe to conclude. Alexi also wanted Shadow to somehow remember something he wasn't sure he ever knew in the first place- how to kill her. It would be ...logical, he had to admit... for her to tell him something- possibly try to get on his good side, so that if he knew or ever would know, he would tell her. It was probably the same logic that caused Alexi to put an end to her killing sprees, and join the group.
But Shadow wasn't sure that he would tell her- if he knew- how to kill herself. Because... and he hated admitting this... a part of him wanted her to live.
It was very hard to realize that part of him- after those... -those shameless lies she had told... but he couldn't deny it. There was a part of him that cared for... maybe even loved Alexi. Now that wasn't certain, but he had to acknowledge it.
He sighed. So what had he figured out after all of this thinking? Nothing, save what he already knew. Alexi wanted to die, and believed he was the path to her destruction. Shadow wanted her to live, and believed he was guilty for her suffering. It was the reason she followed him and the reason they would always be a part of each other's lives, whether they liked it or not. And at this moment- he definitely- didn't- like it.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps following close behind him. Shadow stopped, not bothering to turn around. He knew who it was.
"The battle went well, Shadow. Why aren't you celebrating with the other mortals?" Alexi asked, her vivid green eyes burning into the back of his skull. Shadow turned around quickly, and thrust the lantern into her gloved hands, his gaze hardening.
"You're not a god, Alexi. Stop acting like one." He snapped, turning to walk past her.
The leopard caught Shadow's shoulder with her free hand and held him back, at which Shadow spun around, swatting her arm away. He looked down to his shoulder- it was bleeding slightly. Alexi's sharp, claw-like fingernails had scratched him.
"Aren't you going to thank me for saving you?" She growled sarcastically, leaning against the wall and licking the blood off of her fingers. "I could just as easily have let you drown..."
"You couldn't have and we both know it." He snapped. "Now leave me alone. I'm sick of you, Alexi, walking around like we're all pawns in this little war you have with your own soul." He glared. "Whatever it is you want to say, forget about it. I'm not in the mood."
Alexi's grin disappeared, but her gaze was still confident. She walked in front of Shadow, looking him in the eye.
"You want to get away from me, Shadow. You want to run away, because at the moment whether you'd like to admit it or not, you just don't want to deal with me anymore." Her gaze grew more potent. "You're fed up and just want me to go away, right?"
Shadow groaned.
"Yes, that's what I just said, now let me through." The hedgehog argued, moving towards the camp again. Alexi cut him off.
"That's the way I've felt about life for 79 years."
Shadow paused- and then almost moaned in aggravation. This time not at Alexi, but an inward groan at the situation. She was right- he had possibly been a little tough on her. Her life had been turbulent enough as it is and maybe he should give her the benefit of the doubt more often.
...But she didn't have to lie about ...that! Alexi... and him- How? ...It didn't work out!
"Alexi, you don't want my pity. Trust me." He began, when Alexi gripped him again by the shoulder, cutting his sentence in half. He paused, staring at her hand. This time, she didn't dig her claws into his skin.
"You're lucky, Shadow." She began. The hedgehog's eyes darted from her hand to her face, and at first he appeared surprised- but then Shadow's gaze once again hardened.
"Why?" He scoffed, still skeptic of her motives. Alexi's expression remained emotionless, and the leopard leaned in, her lips close to Shadow's ear. At first the hedgehog considered pulling away- but he held still- he had to. He supported most of her weight; if he moved they'd both fall down.
"You can run away." She whispered. "I can't. You can deny what I've told you. I can't." Shadow's eyes widened as Alexi pulled away and began heading back towards camp. He then glared, and stormed ahead of her, purposefully trying to stay as far away from her as possible.
"The next time you start trailing on with those lies, I'm going to personally grant your death wish." He snapped.
The leopard grinned darkly.
"I would sure hope so."
Shadow tried to ignore her and walked faster towards the camp. He never remembered being more angry at the leopard in his entire life. He was about to pick up the pace, when suddenly he stumbled over a depression in the floor, and nearly fell down. Quickly, he spun around to see what he had tripped over, holding the lantern close to the ground.
"What?" Alexi asked simply, hesitating. Shadow briefly looked up at her before turning his gaze back to the floor.
"This- what is it, Alexi?" He asked, sinking to his knees and running his fingers over the three, long depressions in the stone. "They look like claw marks." Shadow concluded, holding the lantern over them.
"Has Fliara been this way?" The leopard suggested, kneeling in front of Shadow. The black hedgehog shook his head.
"No, and besides- not only are her claws not big enough, but she couldn't make a dent as big in stone this hard." He explained. The black hedgehog sighed, and sat down. "...You know what this means, Alexi?"
"I assume you're going to tell me."
"That thing that's following us- it's not a maybe anymore- it knows where we are. And it's here."
OH THE SUSPENSE! AHH!
Anyway- I think I'm required to point out a few things that don't quite make sense
1. Fliara was acting really weird this entire chapter. I won't tell you why yet...
2. Knuckles had a crossword puzzle because... well... I kind of needed him to have one for that pun. In all truthfulness I shoved it into the dialogue last minute.
3. We still don't know much about the Shalexi thing. I'm going to give that a break for next chapter- but the chapter after that- OMGSECRESTREVEALED!
4. That turtle- what, exactly, was it? You'll find out later!
5. And why in the nine hells did Shadow have grenades, you ask? He smuggled them into his pack when Fliara wasn't looking. Shame onto that scheming little rodent
Okay, that about wraps it up. So long!