Chapter 7: Secret Findings

Sonic got out of bed, yawned and looked at the place where Silver crashed through his wall. He sighed, wondering what the gargoyle was doing now. The blue hedgehog walked to the edge and looked out, surprised to see some sort of statue on the lawn.

"That wasn't there yesterday," he said to himself. "Maybe I should take a look at it."

Sonic ran outside and to the statue. It was definitely Silver. Gently knocking on the stone got no response and Sonic frowned. If Silver was stuck like this... What was he going to tell Blaze? He sighed, and walked back inside. Maybe Shadow would know something.

"Silver's on the front lawn," Sonic said. He had no idea if Shadow was even there listening.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, appearing in front of Sonic

"Last night, he got changed into a gargoyle. Now he's a statue in the front lawn and I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to Blaze."

"A gargoyle? How did that happen?"

"Some woman named Fiona put some kind of spell on him."

"Gargoyles usually become stone during morning and are animate at night...wait...did you say Fiona?"

"Yeah. The fox from the party."

"Fiona is my sister," Shadow told him.

Sonic stared and blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah...she's the one who killed me."

"Do I want to know why?"

The ghost frowned. "She sacrificed me to Dark Gaia and forever bound my spirit to this castle. I don't know what she did to my father or brother, though...they're both immortal, so it's possible they're still alive."

"But they aren't in the castle."

"No...I wonder where they are...unfortunately, I can't leave."

"Maybe I could help you look for them."

Shadow smiled gratefully. "I'd like that."

Sonic smiled. "Tell me what I need to know."

"Mephiles is a hedgehog that looks like me except he has blue quills and green eyes," Shadow explained. "Dracula has black fur and red eyes; his quills are pointed up."

"I will keep an eye out." Sonic paused. "Why aren't they here with you?"

"I don't know. Maybe my sister did something to them."

"Is Fiona immortal like your brother?"

"My father, brother and I were born with immortally; Fiona was not. It is possible she became immortal through other means."

"She does know magic..."

"I don't know of any magic that can grant immortality. Only the gods can; Dark Gaia granted the Dracula family line immortality."

"I'm sure there's some kind of dark magic somewhere that could do it," Sonic said. "Maybe she learned it from out of the country?"

"It's possible," Shadow said.

Sonic smiled. His 18th birthday was the next day. "How many birthdays have you celebrated since becoming a ghost?"

"I can't remember," Shadow said. "Why do you ask?"

"Curious. I don't necessarily mean your own birthday."

"When is your birthday, Sonic?"

"Tomorrow."

"How old will you be?"

"Eighteen."

"Well then, happy birthday. You know...since you're a descendant of Dracula, 18 is the age when you'll become immortal."

"I'll just become immortal?"

"Yes; the entire Dracula line has immortality. It's possible that you might gain some powers, but I'm not sure what they would be." Sonic nodded, remembering that Fiona had said something about powers. Shadow smiled. "Do you have any siblings, Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head. "None that I know of."

"What's your family like?" Shadow asked him.

"Dead."

Shadow blinked. "Dead? What happened?"

"I don't remember." Sonic shrugged. "I was young when it happened."

The black hedgehog nodded, and then a thought came to Sonic. Shadow had mentioned immortality in the Dracula bloodline. If that was the case, one of Sonic's parents had been immortal but then how had his immortal parent died? As far as he knew, immortals didn't age or die.

"If one of my parents was immortal... Are there ways to kill immortals?"

"There are," Shadow said. "Immortals can be killed by other immortals or divine weapons; however, weapons like those are rarely given by the gods."

"Could they be stolen?"

"Stolen? I do not know...it is possible; some of my father's weapons are of divine origin."

"So, they could've been stolen from your father's armory?"

"If someone did steal, they will pay...come, check them with me."

Shadow started to fly down the hall. Sonic grinned and followed. "How much has the armory changed over the years?" He asked.

"Not much," Shadow said. When they got to the armory, they saw the door unlocked. That already wasn't good. Sonic frowned and followed Shadow into the room. "They're gone!" Shadow yelled. "All of the divine weapons are gone!"

"How many were there?"

Sonic felt stupid for asking the moment the words left his mouth. It was obvious where the weapons used to be; at least five places on the walls had less dust than the rest of it.

"How could this happen? I've kept watch over this castle for centuries!" The ghost yelled.

Sonic frowned. How had someone gotten down here and stolen the weapons without anyone noticing? Unless it was before he moved in, and considering the dust, that was probably the case.

"This vault is only accessible to family members...it must have been my sister..." Shadow muttered.

Sonic leaned against the wall. He heard a click and fell back as part of the wall slid open to reveal a secret passage. Sonic hopped back to his feet and turned in surprise.

Shadow floated near him and peered into the tunnel. "A secret passage? I've never seen this before..."

"If it's something you don't know about..." Sonic grinned. "I definitely have to see what's on the other side."

"After you, then."

Sonic's grin widened and he walked into the tunnel. "Do you have any suggestions what it could be?"

"I am not sure," Shadow said as he flew after the blue hedgehog. "It could lead to some of the catacombs but we'll find out."

Sonic grew excited at that. The passageway was long, and soon Sonic and Shadow came to a large circular room after going down a winding staircase. The statue of a giant dragon was in the center. Sonic ran over to it and started looking over the statue.

"This is really detailed," he said.

Shadow looked at it. "Someone must have made it a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"I'm not sure; I didn't even know this place existed. We might be underneath the castle."

"Most likely. Maybe the castle was intentionally built above it?"

Shadow nodded. "That is a possibility. I'm more interested in this dragon statue...it's impressive, and very lifelike."

Sonic climbed up onto a part of the statue to get an even closer look at it. He ran his hand along the stone. "Is there a stone that's naturally warm?"

Confusion came to Shadow's face. "What do you mean?"

"This feels kinda warm."

"Warm? It's a statue, how could it feel warm?"

Shadow became intrigued. "I see...how interesting..." Sonic climbed higher on the statue. "Be careful you don't break it," Shadow warned, flying up so he was eye level with Sonic.

The blue hedgehog smiled at the transparent ghost. "You worry too much." Sonic stopped at the dragon's back right below its wings. "Hey, look," Sonic laughed. "I'm riding a dragon."

"Too bad it's not a real one."

"Unfortunately."

"Dragons haven't been seen since medieval times," Shadow said.

"They're probably just hiding somewhere."

"Anyway, we should probably head back."

"I guess so."

Shadow smiled, and they left. When they got back to the castle, the ghost looked at Sonic. "Why don't we check on Silver?"

"Good idea."

Sonic walked out of the castle and up to the petrified gargoyle on the lawn. He looked at it. Everything was exactly the way it should be. He looked up at the sky; it was almost noon. Sonic wondered if Silver was aware what was going on around him. He knocked on the stone.

"Silver?"

There was no response and Sonic pouted. He supposed he should've known.

He looked at the statue for a few moments, running his hand along it. What Silver had transformed into was impressive. He was about to walk back inside when he saw a black furred wolf in the distance. It was at the edge of the forest, staring at him. Sonic stared back at the wolf for a few moments before hurrying inside.

"Shadow, do you know if the wolves around here are dangerous?"

The ghost looked at him. "Wolves? There haven't been wolves in Transylvania for a long time; they were all driven out of their land by humans."

"Really?" Sonic looked at the window. "There was a black wolf looking at me out there."

"There was?" Shadow flew to the window and looked out. "I don't see one."

"It must've gone back in the woods."

"Do you want to go looking for it?"

Sonic shook his head. "I'd better not."

"Why not?" The ghost asked, floating in front of Sonic.

"I have no idea how dangerous the wolf is."

"You may be right...they are unpredictable animals. I wonder why it showed itself."

Sonic's stomach grumbled. He looked at his watch and saw that it was noon before walking into the kitchen to make lunch, thinking about the wolf.