"You sure about this, Sonic...?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded. The moment he'd heard they were going back to the ruins, he had insisted on coming with, no matter how he felt. "Something about these ruins connected with me... I gotta figure out what it is..." He walked towards the obelisk, pausing at the bottom and looking around. He then reached out towards the obelisk, his hand trembling before he placed it against the stone. This time, he didn't hear the cries, only a soft whistling sound of the wind. "...What was this place...?" he whispered.
He then gasped as the stone become warm under his hand, and he looked up as the carvings on it started to glow. The light swirled around the sides towards the top, then a beam of light shot out of the obelisk's point, and washed over Sonic's frame. The hedgehog jumped back, but the light didn't seem to do anything but shine on him.
It then dimmed, and Sonic watched as a door opened out of the bottom, leading to stairs that dropped into the darkness.

"Do we go down there...?" Knuckles asked, but Sonic was already climbing down the steps. "Okay, I guess we are."

Tails turned on his flashlight, shining it along the walls as they went deeper and deeper into the underground. Eventually, the smooth stone wall to their right shifted to a mural, and the trio paused to examine it. It portrayed three worlds stacked on top of one another: One of clouds, one of green vegetation and blue sky, and a third below it of darkness and fire. In each region, a figure was portrayed. In the clouds was a being that resembled an angel, in the darkness was a menacing being of black and red, and in the center region was a familiar face.

"Chaos..." Sonic whispered. "...But who are these other two?"

Tails shrugged. "...Let's see if it explains further on..."
He led the way, shining his flashlight on the walls as they found more murals. One showed Chaos and the angel, obviously in love, and the third being in the shadows, glaring at the happy couple. A second showed Chaos defending the angel from the jealous dark one. A third showed Chaos throwing the dark one into the dark world below. It was obvious that Chaos and the dark one had both loved the same woman, and it had led to a dangerous final battle between the two.

The trio finally found the bottom of the stairs, and they found themselves in a space that was massive from their spacial perception, despite not being able to see. In the center of the room was a purple stone glowing very faintly on a pedestal, and as Tails turned from trying to find a torch to light, he saw Sonic walking towards it, hands reaching for it. "Sonic, don't touch that!"
The hedgehog didn't seemed to hear, and before Tails could reach his friend, Sonic's hands grasped the stone. Light shot out of his hands and Sonic yelped as he fell backwards onto the floor. "Sonic! Are you okay!?"

"I-I'm fine..." Sonic replied as Knuckles picked him up off the floor. "I don't know what came over me, I-"
He stopped as the stone sent out a bright light, which lit the entire room up, exposing it's full size. There were twenty seats carved out of the stone walls, with symbols behind each of them on the walls, and on the ceiling was a massive mural of the angel, her hands held out as what appeared to be lights left them and moved down the domed ceiling towards each of the symbols.

"...It looks like a meeting chamber of some kind..." Tails murmured. "Perhaps for the people you saw?"

Sonic nodded slowly. "But who were they? What does this have to do with me? Why does it even matter!? I-"
He was cut off by a loud rumbling from aboveground, and they all looked up. "What was that?"

"Trouble, most likely. Probably Eggman looking for us."

Sonic's eyes widened. "We can't let him hurt this place!"

"Sonic, it's a bunch of old ruins." Knuckles muttered. "Is it really that important?"

"Yes!"

"Wait." Tails caught Sonic's hand as the hedgehog took off. "If we stay down here, he may decide we're not here and leave..."

"But what if he doesn't!? What if he destroys everything looking for us!?"

"Sonic...Trust me..."

Sonic nodded slowly, but the look of worry seemed to be permanently etched on his face. Was there a second mind influencing his own? Perhaps one that belonged to this place... Had lived here once?

Tails never let go of his brother's hand, until after several minutes, the rumbling stopped, and all was quiet once more. Sonic was still for a moment, then gave a sigh of relief, taking a seat in one of the chairs etched out of the wall. "You okay?"

"I...Think so..." he whispered. "...I think this place has a stronger hold of me than I thought... I'm touching stuff I shouldn't touch, worrying about old buildings that haven't been lived in for ages..." He placed his head in his hands. "What's happening to me...?"

Tails placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure this out, Sonic..."

"Chaos is in those murals, he must know what's going on."

'He doesn't want to talk about it.'

The trio stiffened as a voice spoke from somewhere in the room. "Where are you!?" Knuckles shouted. "Come out and face us!"

'I am facing you, you're just not looking hard enough.'

They looked to their right, and saw one of the paintings on the wall moving, waving a hand. "Whoa...!"

Sonic walked over. "Who are you?" he asked.

The figure, a fox with black hands and feet, gave a chuckle. 'My name is Howlite. I am the last resident of this camp, simply because, as you can see, I can't leave. I'm a living painting.'

"What is this place, Howlite?" Tails asked. "What does it have to do with Sonic?"

Howlite's eyes narrowed. 'Everything...' He pointed to Sonic's chest. 'You, Mr. Hedgehog, are the vessel for a very powerful, and very ancient force... An Amethyst... Autumn Wind.'

Sonic's hand reached up to his chest, holding it. "I am...? How?"

'I have watched each and every Amethyst leave the dust here and find new hosts since their previous hosts were murdered by the Obsidian forces... It was terrible.'

"My vision... So I am being possessed?"

'In a way. Wind will only take full control if you are in immediate danger, or if you let him... He sleeps right now, but you'll know when he wakes.' Howlite sighed, 'I do not know who or where the other nineteen Amethysts are... But you must find them when they awaken, or else Lord Dominus will simply repeat what happened 1,000 years ago.'

"Wait, nineteen? In my vision, there were only twelve."

'Those events were 1,000 years ago... The Queen has forged eight more in that time, bringing it up to twenty.'

"I see... How do I find them?"

'Wind will help you when he fully wakes. You'll be able to feel their power... Hear their thoughts, if you concentrate. But be warned, the Obsidians will be looking for you as well, and you must be on your guard.'

"So not only do we have to deal with Eggman, but now we have to find nineteen other people that're possessed with these things. Great." Knuckles muttered.

Howlite smirked. 'Indeed...'

"Howlite, could you tell us what all of this is about? Why are these Obsidians and Lord Dominus after Sonic and the others?"

'Did you not read the murals on your way in?'

"We did." Sonic replied. "Chaos and this other guy fell in love with the same girl and got into a big fight over it."

'Exactly. That other guy is Lord Dominus, and the girl is Queen Hopeful. Dominus created the Obsidians to destroy Chaos, and the Queen created the Amethysts to protect him and this middle realm from Dominus' clutches. The Obsidians and Amethysts were created to take each other out, and neither side is comfortable with backing down and calling it quits.'

"So if we took out Lord Dominus and his goons, then the world would be safe?" Knuckles asked. "Sounds easy enough."

"Except we're dealing with a being that is just as powerful as Chaos." Tails explained. "And if it took all of the Chaos Emeralds to take down Chaos all by himself, it's gonna take a lot more to take down Dominus and his army."

"Hmph."

Howlite shook his head with a sigh. 'That's all the time I have today...I can only be awake for so long. If you want any more information, come back tomorrow.'

Sonic placed his hands on the wall. "Wait a second!" But the fox had once again gone still and silent. "Drat... Looks like we have a new mission, guys..."

"Yeah...It looks like we do."

Knuckles nudged Sonic's shoulder. "You know who you're gonna have to tell about this, right?"

Sonic stiffened for a moment, then gave a groan. "Amy...!"