What can I say? I'm addicted! I was writing this chapter before I even got any reviews for my last chapter. I'm really glad people are enjoying my fanfic, because I am really enjoying writing it. Hope I can finish! Maybe I'll even make up a sequel to it! Anyway, enjoy. Oh yeah… I still don't own the characters of the Sonic Team, but Seraphy, Shadowrose, Midnight, Megin, and any other OCs that may slip into the plot are MINE. Hands off! (You'll probably see this disclaimer every chapter, since I'm incredibly paranoid. I mean, who WOULDN'T want to steal Seraphy? He's so sexy!)

Chapter 3

The sun so high in the sky signaled that it was past noon when Sonic finally awoke, still feeling a little drowsy. His door was open slightly, suggesting someone had come in to check on him earlier and still found him asleep. The fatigue that seemed to hang over his body was unbreakable, and it took an incredible amount of willpower to even sit up from the guest bed he had been supplied, much less swing his feet over the edge and stand. As he stood, he stumbled slightly, as if he were drunk or hung-over. His head seemed to pound, and he lifted his hands to rub his temples slowly. Sonic struggled to remember what had happened the night before.

Then it all hit him. The cards were still etched in his mind, and had haunted his dreams the night before. Frantically, he looked around for them, now fully awake. Where had they gone? Then he remembered Shadowrose had taken them as Midnight led him to bed. He let out a sigh of relief, but then felt frustrated when the fatigue dripped back into his muscles. Only adrenaline could keep him awake now. Hopefully, today would be an exciting day.

Slowly he slipped on his shoes and headed for the stairs. He could barely keep his eyes open as he stomped down the stairs with heavy feet. This was annoying. Normally after such a good night's sleep, he could run for days without even thought of sleep, but now he felt like it was only three in the morning and he should still be in bed. Maybe Shadowrose could explain what was wrong with him.

As one could tell, Sonic had a great deal of respect for Shadowrose. He and Midnight had been able to supply many answers to the questions that burned at the back of his brain. Sonic also admired his strength, he noted, as he stepped into the large room he had been in the day before and saw Shadowrose holding the card of Megin with an emotionless look on his face. Had Sonic seen such an image of Amy, he wouldn't have been able to handle such a thing and would still be broken. Shadowrose's gaze met Sonic's for a moment, and Sonic could almost feel a silent greeting being passed through the gaze. Shadowrose's voice echoed in Sonic's head.

'How did you sleep?' His voice said. Sonic blinked slightly, unable to comprehend what was going on. Sonic had never heard Shadowrose ask him such a question out loud, so he couldn't have been thinking back on something he had once said. Midnight seemed to catch the puzzled look on Sonic's face, because she chuckled softly and took a sip of coffee.

"It's polite to answer back when Shadowrose asks you something." She scolded playfully. Sonic blinked again, even more confused, and Midnight laughed again. "Shadowrose can speak through minds. I can too, but I'm not as good at it with people I'm not friends with. I have to have a bond to the person."

"How would I answer back?" Sonic asked, still confused.

"Just think your answer, he'll hear you." She replied, now glancing down at a newspaper in her hands. Sonic briefly thought that they were just playing a prank on him, and they were going to laugh when he said nothing and thought out what he would say to Shadowrose without ever opening his mouth. But seeing as this entire situation was out of the ordinary, the idea of speaking through minds wasn't that far out there.

'I slept like a log. I still feel like I should still be asleep. Is this some side-effect of Seraphy's magic? I was tired all day yesterday when I came here too,' Sonic thought to himself, feeling kind of ridiculous for asking a question in his mind, expecting Shadowrose to answer.

"Well done," Shadowrose praised aloud after Sonic was done thinking. "And yes, it is a side effect. I'll make you up something to wake you up." Then Shadowrose got to his feet and turned to one of the bookshelves, now lost in thought.

"Shadowrose didn't sleep at all," Midnight commented quietly, without looking up from the newspaper in her hands. Seeing as Sonic only knew Shadowrose with the dark, tired circles under his eyes, he couldn't tell any different. "He was battling with himself on how to save Megin. He knows how to break the curse, but she was nearly dead before the curse was cast upon her." Her voice had a deep tone of sympathy echoed in every word. "I tried to help him think it out while I slept," she murmured. "We can talk in our minds even while we sleep. We are very closely connected."

"You aren't humans, are you?" Sonic asked slowly, basing this question off his relationship with Chris, a human who was no where near as special or powerful as these two were. Midnight let out a small, airy laugh, and her eyes glimmered brightly with amusement.

"We are, Sonic. We're just a special kind. We are the end results of genetic mutation, or really, an experiment." She flashed a small smile, unashamed of what she was. "The fact that we have bonded is nothing more than a coincidence. Shadowrose has two brothers; Seraphy, whom you have met, and…" She trailed off, looking troubled. Shadowrose came back from the bookshelf with a book in his hand, but when he saw the look twisting Midnight's face, he put the book down on the desk with the keyboard and placed his hand supportively on her shoulders.

"My other brother's name is Jeffrey. He's her fiancé. He's stuck back in our world." Shadowrose explained. Midnight seemed upset. "She has a sister, Megin, and a brother also named Jeffery. Seraphy and Jeffery are courting each other, so to speak. Since Jeffery is a shape-shifter, Seraphy has him… Well… turn into a girl when they have relations."

"That's confusing," Sonic muttered. "Is Seraphy gay?"

"Basically," Shadowrose said quietly. "But since Seraphy won't have relations with Jeffery unless he shifts into a female form, he's technically straight."

"Just drop it!" Midnight snapped, getting to her feet. "That's not important!" There was an irritated look on her face, and Sonic couldn't understand what had provoked the sudden irritation. "Seraphy is a selfish bastard, we all know it, so why go into details?"

Shadowrose sighed softly to himself, ran his hand through his ocean-water colored hair, and went back to focusing on the book he had been holding earlier. Midnight began to pace, glaring at the floor, obviously agitated. Having nothing to keep his attention now, Sonic began to fall asleep. His eyes started getting heavy, his head hanging limply between his shoulders, as the fatigue started seeping in. There was a couch nearby, and Sonic dragged himself over and lay on it.

"Hey!" Shadowrose growled, now moving to the other side of the room to stand before a counter in what appeared to be a kitchen that Sonic had never noticed before. "You have to stay awake while I make this potion, alright?" Sonic nodded weakly, barely even recognizing what he was told, but managed to keep his eyes open and his mind moving in a slow, steady pace.

What could possibly be bothering Midnight so much? The agitation only started to really affect her when her brother Jeffery was discussed. Midnight didn't strike Sonic as the kind to judge their relationship, so he highly doubted she was agitated by the fact that her brother was gay. Maybe there was something deeper in the relationship that only she knew about, seeing as Shadowrose wasn't at all bothered by it.

'Don't think on it too hard, Sonic' Shadowrose's voice echoed in his head again. Sonic turned his gaze to Shadowrose, but Shadowrose wasn't even looking in his direction. 'I've known Midnight for years now, and I still can't figure out why it angers her so much. I've just kind of learned it's probably none of my business and just dropped the subject. It makes things a lot easier to deal with'

'How did you know what I was thinking?' Sonic asked in his mind. From the other side of the room, he heard Shadowrose chuckle out loud to himself. Had there been an evil tone to it like Seraphy had, the chuckle would have probably been exactly the same. Sonic began to wonder how much Midnight's fiancé was like Shadowrose and Seraphy, or even what he looked like.

'Your mind is like an open book for me, Sonic.' Shadowrose's voice said. 'And if you don't want Midnight to burst into tears, don't mention her fiancé. She hasn't seen him in weeks, and she can't hear his voice in our connection; he's too far away.'

Sonic nodded to himself slightly, and stole a glance at Midnight. She was wearing the same torn up jeans she had on yesterday, but today Sonic took note that she was wearing a violet colored T-shirt that didn't cover all of her belly. Her raven feather colored hair was pulled up into a ponytail with a small, dark violet ribbon, and she had a pair of black hoop earrings in. She was still scowling and glaring at the floor; her fluid movements as she paced from side to side were almost hypnotizing. Sonic forced himself to look away from her, reminding himself he had a girlfriend and that Midnight was engaged.

'Everyone can't get enough of Midnight' Shadowrose's voice said, this time with a tone of amusement. 'But her loyalty to Jeffrey is unbreakable now, so you might as well turn your attention back to your own girlfriend before you go courting her.'

'I wasn't courting her' Sonic said defensively in his mind. Another chuckle was heard on the other side of the room. 'I was just admiring her looks.' He insisted, as if that meant anything other than "I was checking her out".

Shadowrose turned away from the counter he was working at, holding a bowl in his hands. He approached Sonic and held out the bowl, and Sonic drowsily took it and looked inside. The potion was a mint green in color, and had the same look and texture of oatmeal. There were little flecks of blue in it as well. Sonic looked up at Shadowrose, and Shadowrose seemed to know what he was going to ask.

"It's made up mainly of a few herbs I know off the top of my head that cure fatigue, and a few things that counteract the brush with dark magic. The blue flecks are blueberries, to give it a little flavor." Shadowrose explained, looking proud of himself. Sonic glanced to Midnight, who had stopped pacing and was watching with interest. Sonic pressed the bowl to his lips and tilted it back, letting the mixture slide into his mouth, and he swallowed slowly. The blueberries were definitely evident, and Sonic actually enjoyed the taste.

As soon as he was done the mixture, he felt the energy return to his body. Shadowrose must have seen the excitement flash in his eyes, because his self-pride grew. Midnight smiled slightly, seeming a little less agitated from before. Sonic got to his feet, feeling he could run for days now.

"Feeling better?" Shadowrose asked, looking a little cocky now. Sonic nodded quickly. "Good," Shadowrose said, "because we're going on a little trip, and we have to walk."

"Walk? Why not run?" Sonic asked, the brightness in his eyes getting back to their normal rate. Shadowrose laughed and found a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote something down. Sonic assumed it was the ingredients he had used, since the mixture had been so effective so quickly.

"Where are we going?" Midnight asked, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"Sonic should know." Shadowrose said. "Apotos Temple."

The memory hit Sonic so suddenly. Two years back, when Eggman had tried to release the power from the center of the world and he had been transformed into a "werehog", he had gone to that temple to regain the Chaos Emerald's power. Sonic was slightly disheartened, all of the sudden. If someone in Apotos remembered him, there would probably be some tiny little problem someone would ask him to fix, and then he would be requested time and time again for help. For two years, Sonic had been trying to avoid that life, now he was being thrust back into it.

But this was for Knuckles, Tails, and especially Amy. He would do anything to save them from the curse Seraphy had set on them. And Shadowrose would obviously need help finding the temple, since he had to save Megin from the same fate. With a sigh, Sonic decided it was time to leave the sheltered life of no worries and start a new adventure.

"What's so special there?" Sonic asked, after he finally made a mental choice on whether or not he would do this. Shadowrose smiled at him, probably happy that he would have assistance to save Megin.

"The temple has its own strength. And since one needs much strength and courage to break a spell like this, it's a perfect place to start. Apotos is a weak temple compared to some others, but it's a good way to teach you how to break the curse, and a good place for me to free Megin, since I'm a little stronger than you."

"Oh really?" Sonic challenged. Shadowrose grinned slightly, but didn't take him up on his challenge. Shadowrose was too mature for a measure of strength.

"Well let's go then! Sonic should know the way!" Midnight said, just as excited as Shadowrose was. Sonic nodded, and turned toward the door. Shadowrose held out a hand to stop him, and ran to the desk where the keyboard was, picking up a small book with a leather cover. "What's that?" Midnight inquired.

"It's my spell book." Shadowrose answered simply. Sonic was lost in the world of magic, and started to wonder how many spells Shadowrose had in that book. It was a relatively thick book, the spine was about an inch wide, and the book itself was about 7 inches tall. The leather cover was a faded brown, and starting to fray at some the edges, which reflected there were a few years of age to the book. Shadowrose saw his curiosity, and opened the book and handed it to Sonic.

Sonic gazed over the handwriting curiously. All the words were in a language unfamiliar to him, and Sonic didn't even venture a guess as to what it was. The handwriting itself was small and compressed. Every page was lined perfectly, the lines had been drawn with ink most likely, straight and precise, and every line was filled with different spells. Sonic didn't recognize a single word on the pages he glanced at. He handed the book back, looking impressed. Shadowrose smiled slightly, but offered no explanation to what any of it meant.

"Let's go!" Midnight urged, standing in the threshold of the open door. It was light outside, and there was a warm breeze blowing from outside. Shadowrose nodded, and the three of them all walked outside and made their way into the forest.

"So tell me, Sonic," Shadowrose said after a few minutes of walking in silence. Sonic had been concentrated on not tripping over anything on the ground as Midnight lead, and Shadowrose held up the rear. "What was the last thing you remember before Seraphy attacked you? I want to try to figure out what day it happened."

"I was about to propose to Amy," Sonic remarked, a little sad. Midnight cooed out an "awe" but otherwise listened in silence. "It would have been an amazing night if Seraphy hadn't ruined it. It was like the entire night was set up for me. There were even fireworks overhead, and Amy and I were just standing in the valley watching." Sonic closed his eyes for a moment and the flashback played in his mind. The bright fireworks, the loud pops and crackles as they danced along the black night sky… He longed to have the moment back, and to fix what had gone wrong.

"Fireworks?" Shadowrose asked, mostly to himself, with a shocked tone. "Are you sure? That was over a week ago!"

Sonic looked over his shoulder at the man, not believing him. But when he saw the look on Shadowrose's face, and noted that Midnight had stopped walking to look back at him with the same level of shock, this obviously wasn't a joke. Sonic felt he should have been more surprised that he had been unconscious for over a week then he actually was. Maybe it was the fact that nothing in this entire situation was normal, he had gotten used to surprises.

"No wonder I was so tired," Sonic remarked with a small smile. "I hadn't eaten for over a week!" After a series of low chuckles from Sonic, Midnight shrugged and continued to walk forward. Sonic quickly followed, wanting to avoid this awkwardness while Shadowrose worried over him. After another moment or two, Sonic heard Shadowrose's footsteps start up and follow them as well, still slightly hesitant.

"Why does this not worry you?" Midnight asked easily. "You don't even seem that surprised."

"After all I've been through in the past two days I remember; it's getting harder to surprise me. I think the only thing that could surprise me now was if two green heads erupted from your shoulders and started talking to me."

Midnight had to laugh at that one, but Shadowrose was still thinking over what Sonic had said and didn't even hear what Sonic had just now said. For another few miles, they continued to walk in silence, every person pondering over a different thing. Sonic was wondering what could possibly be worrying Shadowrose so much. Was it the fact Sonic had been unconscious for so long, or was it the fact that Sonic didn't show any alarm? Maybe it was both options.

When the trio finally escaped the forest, they found themselves on the outskirts of Apotos, but there was no one to be found in the city.

A/N-

DUNDUNDUNDUN! Haha! Well, this was a somewhat boring chapter now that I read over it, but it introduced a few more conflicts the three will have to face, and a few more characters. Jeffery is going to prove how much of a problem he can be later on in the chapter. What do you think could have happened to all of the happy people of Apotos? Leave some reviews and you'll find out in Chapter 4 ^_^