Chapter 19

Sonic Spirit Wind

"Sh-She's a griffin?!" cried Apple in terror. He grabbed onto his brother Orange. Pink, Runner, and Sunshine also were over hugging Orange almost in terror.

"Why is everyone clinging to me?!" demanded Orange.

"Do you know why I was put into that horrid prison for eternity? Did Zaira tell you that?" asked Vivilock to Shadow. He shook his head.

I actually did know. Most of it anyway…

You knew?! Why didn't you tell me?!

I don't like talking about it.

"I thought so. Tell you what, how about I tell you a little story about it?" asked Vivilock ruffling her feathers and raising what fur she had.

"A s-story?" asked Apple.

"Yes… What do you puny people on the ground say?!" the griffin demanded growling and showing off all of her fangs.

"We'd love a story! You go right on ahead!" Jack squeaked.

Vivilock raised her ears and looked over at him. She swooped to the ground and began to slowly approach him. Jack made an attempt to run, but Vivilock snatched him from the ground and held him up to her level.

"Yes… A story… If that's what you want, YOU GOT IT!" Vivilock screeched as she threw Jack against the ground. He was knocked out and lay on the ground. Cosmic, Fury, Daisy, Gold, and Rainbowta raced over.

"Is he okay?!" demanded Rainbowta.

"Yeah, he's fine… Might have a minor concussion is all. He'll live," Gold answered her.

"Anyway… On to the story… Once upon a time, there was a griffin named Vivilock who was among the wisest and most clever griffins in her tribe. She would always want the best for the tribe as well. However, one day there was a terrible accident that was made by the tribe… There was a horrible griffin in the tribe who killed my father who only blamed it on me! I got into trouble and got my shiny white track record tarnished a great deal… They said that I was to be sentenced to exile for my foolishness! After that, I decided that there was no need to be good anymore and go by the rules… Here's what happened… I came back that night and killed him… However, someone caught me… That very morning, they used their strongest spell on me… Sent me to the place between dead and alive forever because they feared that I was too strong and violent for my own good. None of this would have happened if it weren't for him! So, because they blamed me for something I didn't do first, I'll destroy the universe whether if the universe needed to be destroyed or not to show how unfair they were. That's my story!" Vivilock hissed. Everyone was silent when she finished her story. Shadow finally spoke up to break the silence.

"I get that you were mad about the guy killing your father and stuff, but did you have to go all Princess Bride and seek revenge by killing and destroying the rest of the universe?" he asked.

"Who are you to talk?! You've never felt it!" she hissed.

"Wrong. I've felt it. I nearly destroyed a whole planet because they killed someone who I had grown very close to. I tried to avenge her, but then I realized that wasn't what she really wanted. It turned out that I was making a huge mistake. I ended up saving the world rather than destroying it. You can always save the universe by stopping because it's just not worth it or what your father would have wanted, or you can continue to try to take us out. Your choice," Shadow offered.

Vivilock was silent for a long moment before she answered. Her lion tail curled slightly. "You think that I would just stop? Well, I WON'T!" she bellowed aiming a claw strike at Shadow. She made contact on his arm. He yelled in pain and shock.

"Shadow!" yelled Sonic flying towards him as fast as he could. Vivilock only sent him flying backward with her tail.

"He was asking for this! You wanted to see me reformed, but what are you going to do now?! BEG?! No! I'm staying this way. You may have felt something related to my pain, but I'm not gonna become someone like you!" Vivilock snapped.

Shadow! Are you okay?!

No… It hurts like crazy, and I'm sure that I'm going to lose a lot of blood from that. If you listen to all of my nerves, you can hear them screaming!

You're cool even when in pain.

"What now?! He can't put up with a blow like that for long without medical attention! Rainbowta, can you do anything?!" demanded Sonic.

"I'm out of range! He's still flying! I can't use magic if he's out of range!" Rainbowta yelled in reply.

"What do we do?!" demanded Amy to Sonic.

Sonic Spirit Wind…

"What?" asked Sonic wondering how he heard that.

Sonic Spirit Wind!

Sonic wondered what the voice was all about and where it was coming from. He decided not to question it. Shadow can hear strange forces like that! Maybe he could, too! He summoned the power of the chaos and color emeralds to him. All of the thirteen other were drawn to him except for Shadow who was clinging to reality like there was no tomorrow. He was fading into unconsciousness fast…

"Sonic, what are you doing?" asked Tails.

"A Sonic Spirit Wind!" Sonic replied. He looked to Shadow and realized something. If he hit Vivilock, he'd hit Shadow! How could he avoid that? What other way was there?! "Shadow, what about you?!"

Zaira had already explained everything to him. There was no way he was going to let this one chance slip by them! Even if it meant that he'd have to give up his own life again, he'd go through with it.

"Just do it Sonic! It's the only way! It'll suck her soul back out of her! Zaira told me so. That was how they got her removed in the first place! If you want to save the world, you'll do this," Shadow yelled.

Sonic held his breath. This was the only way to do it. He gathered up the power into one point in space and time. He focussed all of his power and was able to make it into a strong wind. It gusted towards Vivilock.

"What?! What are you doing?! You can't do this to me! Not again! Not again!" she cried. Although, she then glared at Shadow. "At least, I'm taking you with me…," she said beginning to get weaker.

"This'll be worth it. Right?" asked Shadow. He could feel his body grow numb as he began to lose control. Vivilock couldn't continue flying anymore and crashed to the ground.

"I'll get you for this one day…," was her last words. Her body formed back into Zaira's for she had lost her original body and only stole Zaira's. Shadow weakly tried to reach out to Zaira somehow with his mind. Their link was growing stronger.

You shouldn't be doing this! You're already banged up! You won't be able to return to the land of the living!

I don't care about that! I'm not even going to be alive much longer. I just wanted to give you a warning.

A warning.

Vivilock's going to be coming your way. Your body is still in good shape. Take it while you still can before she does.

What about you?!

Dr. Eggman will make another me… I don't matter anymore…

It won't be the same! You're letting yourself face the torture of forever!

… I shall see you even if you won't. Don't wait. Don't wait for her to attack.

I'll sooner stick through this eternity with you and watch the planet blow up because of Vivilock than leave you stranded here. If I go, you are coming with me.

Shadow knew there was no more conversation to be done. He felt as if he had drifted away. He had drifted away from everything and he almost couldn't stand seeing himself on the ground. He could see everyone race around the two of them.

Sorry guys… Can't speak, can't touch, but I can think. I'm sorry I had to leave like this…

Well, what took you so long?

What?!

Shadow turned to see Vivilock glaring at him. He took a step back. He knew she was coming. Someone he hadn't seen in so long jumped in front of him and glared at Vivilock.

I am Zaira. I'm no longer the evil being I once was. I won't let you steal me away again…

Due to possible difficulties with identifying who is talking, I'll type it out so that they are talking to each other. Just use your imagination and imagine that they are thinking everything.

"Well, isn't that nice. The battle I had with Sonic wasn't the real battle… It ends now!" Vivilock snapped.

"Now?" asked Shadow.

"Three leave the ring, two come out…," Vivilock told them.

"What do you mean two come out?! Just one!" Shadow argued.

"Nope. You aren't dead," Zaira explained.

The thought then occurred to Shadow that he wasn't stranded there. He wasn't dead. He is immortal, so he would still be able to save himself from such a world. Although, how would they get back before Vivilock?

Sonic was the first to race over to Shadow. He scanned the hedgehog over. Tails joined him with Amy and Knuckles. Tails took a closer look at the gash in his arm.

"It looks like his arm would have been fine if he didn't get hit by your little wind attack," Tails said.

"It's what he wanted!" Sonic objected. He wasn't taking the blame for Shadow's injuries.

"Amy, check his pulse!" Tails commanded.

Amy checked. She didn't hear or feel anything.

"I figured. Although, he's not dead. I know that. He's immortal. Shadow's just drifting," Tails explained.

"Drifting?"

"It's the word I just came up with for being removed from your body."

"Oh."

They all waited in a long silence. Nothing was happening. Sonic looked to Rainbowta to see if her magic could save Shadow. She shook her head.

Shadow wasn't just drifting. He was in a battle position ready to take on Vivilock with Zaira next to him. Vivilock smirked. When they came at her, they'd go right through her. They couldn't fight.

"Don't you get it? We're ghosts in a way. We can't touch each other. I've honestly got a better idea for how we settle this. A competition of knowledge. I was the wisest griffin once! You don't stand a chance! Although, I don't want the Drayan. I want the hedgehog!" Vivilock shouted pointing at Shadow.

"Why me?!" he demanded.

"She's a Drayan. That's reason enough," Vivilock explained with a wave of her hand at Zaira as if to dismiss her from the conversation.

"Are you saying that I'm too smart?" asked Zaira.

"Be quiet! I challenge you to a duel of knowledge, Shadow! Topic: Anything Sonic related. Zaira will be the referee. She knows everything. You start…"

Shadow thought for a second he came up with something. "Who was the priestess who guarded the master emerald in ancient times?"

"Tikal the echidna," Vivilock replied.

"Correct!" Zaira announced.

"Be less enthusiastic about it!" commanded Vivilock.

"Correct…," Zaira said with a sigh.

"How many times has Sonic become Dark Sonic? I'm not including fan projects," Vivilock explained.

"Once. It was in Sonic X when a metarex leader was threatening his friends Chris and Cosmo," Shadow stated.

"Yeah… He's right…," Zaira yawned.

The two of them went back and forth each demonstrating increasingly spectacular knowledge of the Sonic games. Shadow knew that he had to think of something before Zaira fell asleep from boredom. He thought up something.

"Was Sonic always the way he is now?" asked Vivilock.

"Depends on what Sonic universe you are in. In Sonic Underground, he was always like that. However, in a comic, it says that the way that Sonic became the way he is now is by running so fast as a regular hedgehog with shoes made from Dr. Robotnik that he turned blue and kept the shoes to continue going fast," Shadow replied.

"He's right…"

"Very impressive," Vivilock stated.

Shadow took a deep breath. They'd been there for a while now. He hoped that the question would work.

"How many times have I thought about Maria, Molly, and Zaira?" he asked.

"Ooh… Toughy…," Zaira said.

Vivilock thought for a second. From the smug look on Zaira's face, she could tell she figured it out. Vivilock tried to gather up all that she knew about Shadow. Although, the thing was that he couldn't stop thinking about those three people! She ruffled her feathers and said the following words: "I don't know."

"That's it! Shadow the Hedgehog is the winner! The truth is that he thinks about us so much, that the number is too big to talk about! Now, stay true to your promise…," Zaira said.

"Who said that I promised?!" demanded Vivilock making a dash for Shadow who was the closest to them (the body. Not the soul Shadow).

Zaira opened her mouth to yell something although, she forgot she couldn't speak. Instead of yelling, she looked over at Shadow. She felt a feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could feel it. With a deep breath, she ran at Shadow (the soul Shadow) and he barely noticed before she sent him flying.

"What are you doing?!" demanded Shadow.

Vivilock stopped and realized what she had done. Shadow landed just in front of Vivilock and in front of himself. Vivilock hissed at Shadow.

"You can't do this! Not now!" she screeched with a voice as mighty as an eagle. Shadow had to cover his ears.

Suddenly, he felt as if he were being dragged back into life it felt. He was latched onto his original body and knew it was too late. He resisted as long as he could.

"Sorry, Shadow! You're more important than I'll ever be! Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…," Zaira said making a callback on what Maria said to him. She was there. She watched that. Had she felt everything Shadow had? Maybe. Now, she knew for sure what it felt like.

"Wha-?! You can't!" he yelled.

This may not be goodbye. If she gets me, you know what to do.

Shadow could persist anymore. He let go. His entire world disappeared and he fell into darkness. A darkness that no one other than he could ever feel. A sharp pain ran up and down his back and side. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes to see the sunlight disappear from the sky. Little stars began to pop out. He tried to sit up. The pain only grew worse and he found himself stuck on the ground.

"Hey, did you hear something?" asked a voice that sounded like Tails.

"I think I did! Shadow?" asked another voice quickly coming closer. It was Sonic. Rouge was with him.

"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Yeah…," Shadow stated weakly. He was able to look over at the deep claw marks on his side caused by Vivilock. Tails had bandaged it up and took care of that. It still hurt like crazy, though.

"Shadow, Tails got you all worked on and good news! You should be all better in two weeks!" Sonic chirped happily.

"What about her?" asked Shadow glancing over at Zaira a few yards away.

"Her? She's… Uh…," Sonic didn't know how to answer.

"She's not back yet… It's either her or Vivilock… Wait!" Shadow shouted hopping to his feet. Pain dug back at him with raging claws of fire. He fell to his knees and yelled in agony.

"Shadow! Cool off! Stay off of your feet for a while. What is it?" asked Sonic helping Shadow back into a more comfortable position.

"I can still hear her. They're fighting… Fighting in my mind… I…," Shadow continued.

"You can hear them?!" demanded Rouge. She called over everyone else. Once they got over, Shadow explained to them what in the world was going on. They got the picture.

"Well, what can we do?" asked Knuckles.

"I don't think we can do anything…," Tails explained.

Shadow realized with dismay that they all had come out of their super forms. He hardly noticed that he had come out of his as well. His color emerald along with Zaira's was on the ground. The other twelve were put in a little pile on the ground. He grabbed onto the two emeralds daring not to let go. The power didn't flood through him like it did before.

"I don't care if this has turned me into a softie. The prophecy shall never be complete unless if she gets this… I may have become the guy that this entire mess revolves around, but I've gotta do something."

Please lend me your power one last time…

The black emerald lit up dimly. A pain shot through his side again. He gripped the ground. Everyone else was talking among themselves until they realized that the emerald was working again. They watched in surprise and amazement as Shadow's fur turned blue with red stripes rather than white like Hyper Shadow. He'd never had a form like this. His side was mended by the power of the emerald and he could see all realms of space and time at an endless distance. He could see the world of life and death as well as into them. Sonic almost envied his super cool form.

"Alright… I wasn't expecting that…," was all Shadow said in response to his sudden transformation. He looked back at Sonic. "Everyone, get those emeralds back. Our fight was cut short.

"Okay!" Amy answered running back to get them.

Shadow was able to step into the world that Zaira was in. He saw Vivilock pinning her down by her wings. They were both evenly matched because she didn't have her powers to save her. Shadow glared at Vivilock and didn't say anything.

"So, Shadow returns… What's this? Oh… A new form… Let's see how you go down!" she yelled dashing towards him. He held out his hand and caught her beak. He pushed her back with remarkable strength.

"I have more power than you know. You either give up now or I'll make you…," Shadow explained to Vivilock.

"Do you really think I will…?" Vivilock questioned. She stood back up.

"No."

"You are a smart hedgehog! There's no way you can reform me, beat me, or try to make me give up hope! I'll fight forever to get out of this prison of eternity!" she snapped back.

"I had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this…," Shadow sighed.

He signaled to Sonic with his hand. A bright light burst into their realm and circled Shadow. He harnessed the power of the color emeralds within his hands and sent it at Vivilock. She let out a shout of alarm and dodged. She looked behind her and saw what the ball had hit. It hit the ground and turned it into stone.

"Now do you fear me?" asked Shadow almost taunting her with the color emeralds' power.

"I-I… Yo can't give me fear of your rock… I won't be…"

"You can't escape if you are stone…"

Vivilock ran for her life. She dodged every one of Shadow's attacks. She jumped around never in one spot for more than a second. Shadow was trying to aim the best he could. Vivilock was too quick. She began to regain her confidence.

"You're so slow with that silly form! You may be strong! Although, your attacks are a real letdown!" she taunted.

An idea popped into her head. She jumped at a specific spot. When Shadow launched his attack, she easily dodged. He shouted in terror at what he had done. Zaira was knocked out on the ground. He watched, unable to do anything. When the blast made contact, her skin turned hard and cold. She was stone. Vivilock laughed.

"What now my friend?! Are you gonna curl up into a little ball and weep?!" she demanded.

Shadow had officially had enough. He loathed her. There was no way to save her. He lobbed a powerful blast at her without hesitating. She didn't notice it in time and gasped in terror only when it was too late. The blast was so powerful, that when she became a cold, hard statue, the stone crumbled and fell apart into many pieces on the ground. Vivilock was gone.

Shadow turned back to the stone Zaira on the ground. What had he done…? Carefully he carried her back out of the realm. He lay her on the ground.

Shadow…?

Shadow's ears twitched. It was Zaira. She was speaking to him. From the rock? Maybe her soul just took the rock as a vessel and she only couldn't move or leave the rock! He turned back to his normal form. Sonic and the others gathered around her.

You are now a rock. Sorry…

A rock?! Hm. Not the first time I guess.

Is it not the first time?

Nope. I'm such a good spy because I can turn into rocks. Rock spies are the best spies.

Yeah. Although, you don't have Drayan powers. You're a rock.

…

"Is… She dead…?" asked Tails slowly.

"No. She's just in the rock. No… She is the rock. Her soul has accepted that as a vessel. She can't do anything but talk to me now," Shadow answered them.

"Why do you have something to do with everything?! Why not me?!" demanded Sonic getting agitated.

"Because you're not a neutral character. I communicate with both the enemy and the good guys. That's why " Shadow replied.

Sonic only growled with irritation. He backed off. They had no idea what to do now. How do they reverse a rock? Tails thought up something that they could try.

"Do you suppose that the color emeralds could activate again if we have strong enough emotions?" asked Tails.

"How about we get Shadow to kiss her! SONIC 06 ENDING!" Sonic yelled just trying to be mean.

Everybody nearly gagged. No way. Shadow shook his head and his face was bright red. There was no way that was happening.

I won't allow it! I WON'T ALLOW IT!

Zaira, be quiet for a second. I'm still trying to recover…

"There's gotta be another way! I'm sure of it! Rainbowta!" yelled Runner.

Rainbowta shook her head to their disappointment. "There's no way to reverse it with the magic of the color emeralds."

"Can the color emeralds work?!" demanded Tails.

"I guess they could… What about the chaos emeralds for once?" asked Sonic.

"The chaos emeralds…?" asked Sonic sheepishly. They looked around. They were gone again. Shadow sighed.

"Fine… We'll try the color emeralds… Again…," Knuckles answered. He handed Shadow the emerald. Though his feelings were strong, it didn't work. It didn't even light up a little.

"That's weird…," Tails stated grabbing the emerald.

As soon as Tails touched the emerald, it split in half and broke! Tails dropped it to the ground and everyone gasped.

"It broke!" yelled Sunshine in alarm.

"That's a first…," Runner commented.

Shadow looked at the gem almost stunned. He then stomped on it and watched it be crushed into little pieces. Everyone stared in alarm as he crushes the emerald.

"Shadow! Stop it!" Rabby pleaded.

Shadow blocked out everyone. He threw the other emerald on the ground and watched it break in front of him.

I'm sorry! I can't do it! What do I do?!

There was no answer…

Zaira?

Still no answer…

Did I just break the link?! Was it the emeralds the whole time?! The fact that I had the emeralds was enough to allow us to communicate! What have I done?!

Zaira's POV

What happened? At first, it was dark and cold in a world of darkness… A voice did speak to me. Shadow's. He was cut off by something. This is almost worse than being a ghost. I've been turned to stone and yet there is nothing I can do about it.

I continue to wait…, yet nothing comes… Who is there? I can't see, hear, feel, smell, touch, or anything. Forever stuck and without hope? I hope not.

Someone… Help… For once! I know I didn't do anything good to anyone, but I know what I am to do now! Make it stop… Make it stop… Help me…

Returning to normal perspective.

Shadow stormed off in another direction away from everyone. Sonic ran after him. Once Sonic caught up, Shadow turned and glared at him.

"What do you want?!" Shadow demanded.

"I have a question. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" demanded Sonic.

"What's wrong with me?! Good question! I turned Zaira to stone, destroyed our link, and now she's stuck in a cold, dark world and will die there because of me!" Shadow yelled.

"I get that you're mad! It's not your fault! We all go through something like this! Believe me, I have. Getting upset about it solves nothing. What would she want you to do?! What does she want?" asked Sonic.

Shadow thought. For once, he agreed with Sonic. What would she want? Her freedom. How would he do that? He thought back trying to find something useful in his memory. A soul can only dwell within a vessel that wasn't too banged up and wasn't already possessed. That may be it! She can't actually die within a rock. He was making a choice that either resulted in life or death. It was the only way. Either way, she would be, in a way, free.

"Thanks, Sonic… I know what to do now…," Shadow said slowly.

He turned around and ran as fast as he could back to where he was. He almost hated to do this. Running full speed, readying himself, and probably never to love again. Love? What did that have to do with anything? Shadow shook his head. What he was doing was out of… He couldn't pick the perfect word. Not friend. Not out of being a couple. Certainly not an acquaintance. It didn't matter anymore. Goodbye forever possibly until we meet again I suppose. All that mushy stuff.

Ker-pow!

Shadow knew what he had done and knew he was in his right mind. He had destroyed the rock that had been her. There was nothing more he could do. Her soul is freed from the prison it had been in for so long. Although, this was life or death. What was it was all he could wonder as he stared up at the sky knowing that was where she would be.