Chapter 5: Fiona

A month later, Silver was visiting Sonic again. Blaze was going to join him in a few days once she'd finished with a few important things with her business.

"What have you been doing this past month, Sonic?" Silver asked.

"Getting used to the castle. Exploring the surrounding area."

"How's Shadow doing?"

"He's doing great. We get along really well, too."

Silver smiled. "That's good."

"Hello, Silver," Shadow said. Silver jumped and whirled around to see the ghost floating in front of him.

"Hi Shadow."

"How have you been?"

"Great."

The ghost smiled. "Sonic and I have been enjoying each other's company."

"So you're friends now?"

"Yep," Sonic said. "Still hasn't told me how he died, though..."

"Well, I'd imagine it isn't something he wants to talk about."

"I'll tell him when I'm ready," Shadow said.

"And I will eagerly await that day," Sonic said.

Shadow smiled. "What have you been doing lately, Silver?"

"Nothing much."

"How's Blaze?" Sonic asked.

"Happy."

"She didn't come?"

Silver shook his head. "Blaze is too busy for a visit. Something came up with her job."

"What's her job?"

"She's the CEO of the Sol company."

"I've heard of them. What do they do?"

"A bit of everything."

Sonic smiled. "How long are you going to stay, Silver?"

"Just a week or two."

"Great. I haven't seen you in a while."

Silver smiled. "Find out anything else interesting about the castle?"

"There are catacombs under the castle to explore."

"Really? Did you find anything interesting down there?"

"Not yet. Just...skeletons."

"The castle was built on the grounds where my father left all of his...trophies in battle," Shadow said.

"Why'd he pick a place like that to build his castle?"

"I don't know. My father was a strange man."

"What other strange things did he do?"

Shadow thought about it. "I can't remember. Vlad was called The Impaler because he impaled people he killed...went on many military campaigns and conquered quite a few lands. Our family became extremely rich."

"We know history," Sonic said. "Tell me about the other stuff."

"What do you wish to know?"

"Little things you remember. What it was like back in that time. Stuff you don't learn in history books."

"I was born in 1462 here in the town of Transylvania. My older brother Mephiles and I got along well and would often explore the castle and its surrounding grounds. Our family had many balls held, but I was a shy child and didn't like parties that much. We visited many other countries as well."

"What were the balls like?" Silver asked. "Anything like in movies?"

"Movies? What are those?" Shadow asked.

"You haven't seen any with Sonic?"

"No. I prefer to stay away from modern day things. Don't really understand them."

"You don't have to understand them," Sonic said. "I told you - what matters is if you like it or not."

"What are movies?" Shadow asked again.

Sonic sighed and motioned for him to follow. "You can come too, Silver. I told you before, movies are something you watch. Like a play, but different." Shadow floated in the air as he followed Silver and Sonic. The blue hedgehog picked out a movie and put it in the VHS player. "We're going to watch Lord Of The Rings," he said, turning on the TV.

"All three of them, or just the first one?" Silver asked.

"That depends on Shadow," Sonic said.

"It's a trilogy?" Shadow asked.

"Based off the books. Each of them are three hours long."

"Okay. Put it on."

Sonic nodded and turned on the movie. As they watched it, Shadow grew interested. The credits had barely began when he looked at Sonic. "I would like to see the next one." Sonic smiled and put the second film in. Once The Two Towers one was over, they watched The Return of the King as well. "Those were good movies," Shadow said once the third one finished.

"There's a prequel series too," Sonic said.

"What's that called?"

"The Hobbit." Sonic stood. "Nine hours is more than long enough for me. If you want to watch the others, ask Silver."

"I'll watch them another time," Shadow told Sonic. "I agree that nine hours is too long. You said they're based on novels?'

"Yep. Did you want to read them?"

"Perhaps."

"I'll find them for you if you decide you do."

"How would he read them, though?" Silver asked Sonic. "He's not solid."

"Maybe we could read them to him?"

"That sound like fun," Shadow said.

Sonic yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed."

"Good night," Shadow said.

"Night," Sonic said.

Later that night, Fiona snuck in the castle. Getting in was easier than it should've been. Then again, Sonic had seemed pretty carefree and friendly enough to think he didn't need any fancy security. If Fiona succeeded in her mission, he would regret that.

Fiona looked around, wondering where Sonic's bedroom was. There were too many rooms in the castle, and he could've chosen any one of them. Fiona thought about it, then chose the stairs. It made the most sense for his bedroom to be on the upper floors. When she reached the first floor, she saw that there were many doors. Which one led to Sonic's bedroom?

There was only one way to find out.

After carefully looking in each room down that hall, Fiona growled. His bedroom wasn't there. Castles had far too many rooms for this... She should have waited to get more intel before coming in here for this. The fox sighed, deciding to search as quickly as possible. It didn't take her as long as she'd been worrying to finally find the room Sonic was using for his bedroom. She walked into the room and took out her knife. Stopping in front of the bed, she looked at Sonic and raised it up, ready to plunge the knife into his flesh.

When Fiona went to stab Sonic and kill him, the hedgehog moved - much faster than she thought possible - and avoided her attack. He shot out of bed and glared at her.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to die."

"Why?" Sonic asked, dodging Fiona's attacks. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Your existence is in the way, so you must die."

The blue hedgehog frowned. He was about to attack when a green aura surrounded Fiona and she was flung across the room. Fiona was held in place against the wall, struggling but clearly unable to move. Silver walked up to her, holding her in place with his powers.

"What are you doing here?" Fiona didn't answer with anything more than a glare. "Tell me why you're trying to kill Sonic."

"He must die."

"You already said that. Why must he die?" Silver asked.

"He's a descendant of Dracula!" Fiona yelled.

"So you try to kill me?" Sonic asked.

"Our cult has been targeting the Dracula family for centuries, sacrificing them to our god."

"Sacrificing? To what god?"

"Dark Gaia," Fiona told him.

Sonic stared at her in confusion. He had never heard of Dark Gaia before. "What religion is that?"

"It's an old religion, just in this region."

Sonic nodded and thought about what she had said. "I don't suppose you'll tell me more about your religion?"

"Let me tell you something interesting: your ancestor, the great Vlad Dracula, is the son of Dark Gaia," Fiona told him.

"He was a demigod?"

"Your ancestor? Yes, he was. His descendants had his powers, including you."

"Really?" Sonic wasn't sure he believed her.

"What kind of powers?" Silver asked Fiona.

"Why should I tell you that? Figure it out for yourself," the fox snarled.

"Why is this cult murdering my family line?" Sonic asked her. "You mentioned a sacrifice?"

"I am not giving you any more information."

"Fine. Now what to do with you..."

"Let me go."

"Why should we? You tried to kill me," Sonic said.

Fiona smirked, and sent out a magic spell that hit Silver. He yelled and fell back as Fiona escaped. Sonic ignored the fox, going over to Silver as she ran off. Silver groaned in pain. His body was changing; he began to grow and shift until he had become a seven foot tall gargoyle.

"What... Silver?"

The giant gargoyle looked at himself. He was more humanoid, had dark gray coloring, no quills or fur, pointed short elf-type ears, and large wings. His hands now had four fingers and feet had become gigantic three toed paws with sharp claws protruding from them.

"Sonic?" His voice came out as a low growl. "What happened to me?"

"You were turned into a... gargoyle? Somehow."

Silver growled; he could feel himself, and his new wings, pressing against the ceiling, which was starting to crack. Sonic looked around, unsure of what to do. "I'm too large to fit in here," Silver said. "Any way I can get outside?"

"Not without breaking something."

The gargoyle growled again and moved to the window. "Guess I have no choice. I'm sorry about this."

The crash of Silver going through the window, and leaving Sonic with a gaping hole in his wall, caused Sonic to flatten his ears and back away.