1Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's note: I apologize for the severe lateness of this chapter; real life and a nasty case of writer's block conspired together to delay it much more than I would've liked. Still, it's here now, so enjoy…

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Gamecube (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Three: Echoes

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

There was a stinging pain in the back of Sally's head as she awoke, consciousness returning to her slowly. It was the first thing she realized as her mind slowly regained consciousness. Slowly, however, other sensations entered her perception. The air…it was thick and hot around her. Groggily, Sally sat up and began to open her eyes. Blinking a few times to clear her vision, she saw she was in a small room. There were no windows or doors. In fact, there was nothing around her save for the smooth steel that created the floor, walls, and roof. "Where am I…?" she mumbled, instinctively placing her hand on the back of her head. "I remember…", she thought, "…the Lake of Rings…and then Sonic…did he knock me out…?"

The thought of Sonic jolted her fully awake. Everything came rushing back to her, pushing her to her feet. "I've got to get out, find out what's going on…" she reminded herself. Wasting no more time, she began tracing the walls with her hands, searching for any sign of a switch or hidden door or a weak spot. Unfortunately, all she felt was smooth steel. "OK…don't panic…", she said aloud in an attempt to ease her nerves. "You got IN here…somehow…which means you can get OUT too…"

"Ah, they're so cute when they're trying to escape." A familiar purr echoed throughout the room, seemingly from nowhere.

"Lilith…" Sally growled, not surprised in the slightest the bat was involved in this.

She looked around quickly to find where the temptress was hiding, but saw no sign of her. Stepping into the center of the room to get a better view, she continued her search only to have her eye caught by...something…in the wall to her left. It was like a ripple in water, bubbling and expanding to the edge and then fading. A small beam of light flew out of its center, causing Sally to step backwards to avoid it hitting her as it went from one side of the room to the other. As it reached the opposite wall, the light expanded in size, increasing in brightness. Forced to shield her eyes, Sally was unable to see the creature that emerged through the light. However, as the light vanished and Sally could see again, she was soon greeted with Lilith's familiar form. Wearing a grin of smug triumph, the bat eyed Sally predatorily. Her face soon softened, though Sally could still sense a deep-seated malice in Lilith's gaze. "Awake at last, I see…" she said, obviously enjoying the situation.

Sally did not respond, instead glaring at her enemy solemnly. "Aww, no 'Nice to see you again, Lilith?'" the winged temptress laughed. "How about a 'So, how's Sonic doing?'"

The princess still did not speak, though Lilith could see the smallest of twitches in the squirrel's ears. She snorted in mild disappointment. "Aww…I was hoping you'd get all riled up…oh, well."

Flexing her wings outward, she continued, "Anyway, Amodeus needs to see you now that you're awake, so you'll need to come with me."

Lilith grabbed the squirrel by the wrist, and for a moment Sally was tempted to take her down right then. However, she knew fighting Lilith here would do no good; she would still be trapped and in need of answers. "I'll let her take me to this…Amodeus…" she thought. "Then with any luck I'll find out what's going on…"

Unaware of Sally's mental planning, Lilith dragged her by the arm to the wall she had entered from. Placing her free hand upwards, she chanted in a low, guttural voice, "Enpo Os We Aym Ssap!"

Just as before, the wall began to ripple and shift. "Right this way…" Lilith chuckled, walking through the waves with Sally in tow.

It felt like walking through water, as if the wall around her was liquefying and shifting around her form exactly. As quickly as it had come, the feeling left, and Sally found they were in a new location. At first, she thought it was the Master Emerald chamber, but the skeletal throne in front of her showed her otherwise. Looking behind her, she was surprised to see that there was no sign of the room she had just been in, only a looming gate. "Here she is." Lilith said, yanking Sally's arm roughly and pushing her forward. Stumbling toward the throne, Sally heard a raspy voice greet her. "Greetings, Child of the Source. I am Amodeus…"

"Child of the Source…?" Sally asked, looking up to the throne to see the old goat she could only assume was Amodeus. She was struck by how his face, despite his left eye being scarred shut, seemed to glow with a cold, fearful presence. Swallowing the feeling of dread that welled up inside her, she decided now was as a good a time as any to try and get her answers. Straightening up, she continued with more force in her voice, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

"We brought you here," Amodeus answered, spreading his arms open in a welcoming gesture, "because we need you. I know you are…confused right now, but I promise you will have your answers."

Sally's fur visibly bristled in frustration. She prepared to voice that feeling when she heard a voice, one instantly recognizable to her ears. "Getting ready for the ritual already?"

Almost instinctively, she tracked the voice to its source. Directly behind her stood a creature she would have identified as Sonic the Hedgehog, had it not been for the glaring differences between them. For one thing, the creature's fur was a far darker shade of blue than Sonic's, its eyes blood red compared to his light green, and its quills far more jagged and unkempt than his. The most jarring difference, however, was his expression. A sinister, threatening grin plastered on his face, his brows deeply furrowed, he looked like he could snap completely at any second. However, for all that the body did not match, the voice was unmistakable. Somehow or other, THIS was Sonic. The fear Sally had felt the night before, that something had happened to him, returned, only this time she was sure of its truth: something was controlling him, twisting him into something…darker. She stared at him for a moment, taking in the changes his body had undergone. Noticing her attention, Sonic smiled slightly. "Your majesty…" he greeted with a chuckle.

After an exaggerated bow, he brushed past Sally and strutted arrogantly towards the throne. "I thought for sure you'd wait a little longer…" Sonic continued. "You do everything else so slow around here!"

Lilith stifled a laugh, and to her own surprise, Sally felt a slight laugh inside her as well; she had to admit, it was amusing to see that, whatever else had happened, Sonic's transformation had not erased everything about him. For his part, Amodeus simply growled indignantly. Rather than respond to the hedgehog's insult, he instead turned his attention to Sally. Stroking his beard thoughtfully, the aged shaman hummed lowly for a moment, deep in thought. "Now", he hummed lowly, "where were we?"

Snapping his fingers, he nodded his head in realization. "Ah, yes; you want answers!"

The only response Sally gave was a folding of her arms. His theatrics were not amusing her in the slightest. "It is easy enough to answer where you are," Amodeus said, continuing with a long, sweeping wave of his arm that allowed his staff to circle the room, "This is an ancient temple, built long ago by The Order of Daxis, and designed to be accessible only to those within the Order. Thus it has remained hidden from the world, even after the thousands of years since its construction."

Returning the staff to its resting place by his side, Amodeus continued. "The question of what we want with you, however, is a bit more difficult."

"Try me. I've got time…" Sally retorted sarcastically, still maintaining her disinterested pose.

"I assume, as a member of the Royal Family, you know of the Ancient Walkers, the Goddess Aurora, and the Source of All?" Amodeus asked, to which Sally nodded curtly.

"Excellent…that's one part of the story I can skip, at least…" the goat laughed hoarsely. His laughter quickly died and he resumed speaking. "When this planet was reforged after the Days of Fury, there came to be a hierarchy of spirits watching over this world…The Goddess Aurora and the Four Ancient Walkers…"

Ears perked upwards, Sally hastily interrupted. "Four? There are only three Walkers…"

A sinister grin crept along the sides of Amodeus' face. He had her full attention now. "I suspect, my dear, that whatever legends or history your people know of the Walkers has been whitewashed of his glory, but in truth there was indeed a fourth Walker. His name…was Daxis."

"Daxis?" Sally repeated.

Amodeus nodded. "He was the most powerful of the Ancient Walkers who watched over this world in its infancy." He said. His voice reflected a deep feeling of loyalty.

"However…" he continued, visibly tense, "he was also the only one with the insight to realize the terrible danger the young Mobius was in. He knew it from the moment new life set foot on the planet."

Sonic yawned loudly and stretched. "Hey, hurry up 'n' get to the good stuff, will ya?" he asked incredulously.

Ignoring the comment, save a vicious glare he shot at the hedgehog, the shaman continued. "Daxis recognized the threat that sentient life-forms posed to Mobius, and that, without a proper leader, they would eventually grow out of control and, in their ignorance, destroy the planet. Rather than allow that to happen, the great Daxis prepared to take action…"

"By conquering the peoples of Mobius." Sally interrupted harshly.

A moment of silence hung over the room; none of the three watching her had expected Sally to speak up. "So your 'Daxis' is the same as Robotnik, Naugus, and every other tyrant who thinks their power makes them a leader, then?" she growled.

"I realize," Amodeus soothingly spoke, "how it must sound to one who has endured as many hardships as you have, Child of the Source." Even as Sally mentally winced at being referred to by that cumbersome title again, he went on, "However, I assure you, Daxis' aims for Mobius and its people were pure; why, if he had succeeded, it is safe to assume people like Robotnik would never have come into power."

"I'm betting Aurora and the other Walkers didn't see it that way," Sally said, a knowing smile on her face, "or we probably wouldn't be talking about all this right now, would we?"

The soothing tone gone, Amodeus responded angrily, "Aurora and the Walkers were arrogant…they willingly ignored the threat to Mobius because they refused to believe the creatures they watched over were anything less than perfect."

The princess had to keep herself from grinning even wider; she had struck a nerve, and with it, a plan on how to escape. "Do tell," she said, intentionally projecting a sense of disrespect in her voice.

"When Daxis attempted to descend upon Mobius and unite its peoples, Aurora and the Walkers…interfered…" Amodeus growled, anger clearly rising. "They fought him, and when they found themselves overpowered by the great Daxis, they combined their strengths and banished him!"

"Where to?" Sally asked lazily, taking a relaxed sit in front of the pedestal Lilith and Sonic now stood on; she saw in the corner of her eye the dark-blue hedgehog eyeing her suspiciously.

"The World Between Life and Death." Amodeus intoned grimly. "Daxis could not be killed, yet to Aurora and the Walkers he was too dangerous to be kept alive, and so they sentenced him to an eternity of neither life nor death…only nothingness…"

For a moment, Sally felt a familiar chill run through her spine at that last word. It was only a moment, however, and she brushed the feeling away quickly; if her plan was going to work, she had to stay focused. "It sounds to me like this big, bad 'Daxis' got exactly what was coming to him." She said with a loud laugh at the end.

Lilith bristled slightly; the princess' lax attitude was starting to annoy her. However, she knew Amodeus despised others interfering in his 'business'; the old goat was too proud to ever ask for help, and whenever she had tried acting without his permission in the past, she had been punished severely. Thus the silver bat bit her tongue, instead hoping Amodeus would take care of that spoiled little squirrel by himself. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?" Amodeus hissed.

"You say he was trying to solve this world's problems…it sounds to me like all he was going to do was make them worse," Sally practically yawned.

She briefly glanced up at Sonic. "If we ever get out of this," she mentally whispered to him, "remind me to thank you for teaching me how to rile people up so well…"

Looking back at Amodeus, she found that the shaman had risen from his throne, clutching his staff tightly. "Do not speak so disrespectfully of the great Daxis in these halls! He was the only being in the universe who could've controlled the evil that plagued this world!" he shouted, an obvious stretch of his aged vocal chords.

"Right, right, all those terrible Mobians, how could I forget?" she sarcastically spat. "We've been around for a long time, and ya know what? Mobius is still here. Sounds to me like Daxis was just wasting his time…"

"I think you've said enough, princess…" Sonic warned, not burdened with the same hesitance as Lilith.

Though he could not put his finger on how, the hedgehog could tell Sally was attempting to trick Amodeus, to what end he was unsure. That, however, became obvious to him when Amodeus' outraged cry echoed across the diamond walls. "You DARE doubt the mission of Daxis? I will show you the evil he hoped to contain!!!"

Whirling to the goat, Sonic shouted, "WAIT…!!!"

It was too late. With a loud CRACK, Amodeus' staff clashed to the floor, and the entire room was engulfed in light.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sally knew her plan had been a gamble, that provoking Amodeus might not have gotten her the results she desired. All she knew was that he was one of the only people who could get her out of that temple, and he was only going to do that if she gave him a reason to. She had heard the reverence in his voice when he had talked about this so-called Fourth Walker, and had gone from there. As the light cleared and her vision returned, she knew the risk had been worth it: rather than the crystalline temple where she had been only moments before, she now stood upon a large, barren field. Although the area around her did not look familiar, it did not matter, since now that she knew what she was dealing with and was out of the temple, she could escape. All that was left was to wait for the opening. "You don't know where we are, do you, Child?" the voice of Amodeus came from behind her and broke her train of thought.

Now more focused on her surroundings, Sally took a look around and noted that her position in relation to the others had changed from when they were inside the temple; Sonic and Lilith stood at Amodeus' side, and all three of them were behind her now. She turned around to face her captors with a restrained "No."

Amodeus opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to the punch by Sonic, who slapped the goat hard behind the head. "IDIOT!!! Don't tell me you were honestly dumb enough to fall for her little trick!" he barked angrily.

"Do something like that again," Amodeus warned emotionlessly, pointing the head of his staff towards Sonic menacingly, "and I will make you suffer for it…"

Seeing her chance in the argument between Sonic and Amodeus as her chance, Sally turned and ran without hesitation. She knew Sonic and Lilith could outrun her, but she was prepared to defend herself if either of them attacked her, even if they did together. As she ran into the distance, Sonic was already preparing to take off after her. Already revving up, he turned to Amodeus and chuckled, "See?"

To the hedgehog's surprise, Amodeus simply grinned. "Let her go." He calmly spoke.

"What?" Sonic yelped, his rev turning into a lurch and a fall to the ground.

"She has nowhere to go…" the goat replied. "Let her see the evil Daxis could have prevented from coming into existence."

In confusion, Sonic turned to Lilith with questions in his eyes. Lilith simply shrugged. Though she shared Sonic's skepticism, Amodeus' confidence suggested to her that the goat knew what he was doing. Still not brave enough to voice her concerns, the bat simply hoped that would be comfort enough.

Sally, for her part, had unvoiced concerns of her own, even as she continued running at a steady pace. "Why haven't they done anything yet?" she wondered nervously.

Already she had conceived that they might have been planning some sort of trap for her, that by running she was doing exactly what they wanted. However, she knew that running was her only chance, trap or not. "Whatever they're planning," she thought, "I'll deal with it when the time comes."

So she continued her run. After a good while, Sonic, Amodeus, and Lilith had all fallen out of view. Still nothing. Sally refused to let her guard down completely, but after a while she began to relax, at least slightly. With a little more time, she even slowed herself down to catch her breath. For all the ground she was sure she had covered, it frustrated the princess to see no change in her surroundings. She was still walking on the same lifeless gray dirt with no end in sight. No trees, no other Mobians…not even animals or rocks. Just endless dead land. "I've never seen a place so…so…empty…" she thought to herself with a shudder. "Even Robotropolis has its machines and buildings…this place has nothing…"

A chilling thought crossed her mind: what if this was Amodeus' trap, to leave her lost to die in an endless sea of gray? "No, no…it sounded like he wanted me alive, and besides he had a good chance to kill me when I was unconscious…" she reasoned.

No longer even trotting, she now simply plodded through the bland terrain, wondering what could possibly have rendered any corner of the planet so devoid of even the slightest spark of vitality.

Indeed, she was beginning to feel her own vitality fade. Her breathing became heavier, and her whole body began to feel like lead. She found herself suddenly unable to continue, or even to stand any longer, falling on her knees. "What…what's happening…?" she wondered aloud, before slumping onto the ground face first, exhaustion beginning to claw at her mind. "Stay awake…" she ordered herself. "STAY AWAKE!!!"

Yet the force of her command went unfelt, and soon enough her eyes had closed. Just before she succumbed to sleep, she could have sworn she could hear voices…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Within the shaded confines of the Council Meeting Room, Geoffrey St. John paced nervously from one side of the table to the other. "Geoffrey," Hershey cautioned from her seat, "walking until there's a ditch in the floor won't make the search party come back any faster."

"I know, luv," Geoffrey sighed, though he continued his pacing, "but it sure helps to keep my nerves down."

"Yours, maybe, but it's giving mine goosebumps…" Rotor groaned.

The Council was seated at the meeting table, awaiting news from the Search Party deployed not long ago when it had been learned Princess Sally was missing. The party had been sent on the unenviable mission to search the entirety of the Great Forest for any sign of the Princess or else some clue as to what had happened to her. "We must conseedair," Antoine spoke up, "ze possibilitee zat she left of her own choice."

The rest of the council did not answer at first. Eventually, however, Uncle Chuck broke the silence. "Why would the Princess just…leave…without even telling us?"

The coyote turned his gaze to the elderly hedgehog and answered, "Eet ees deestinktly possible ze stress of the ze last few days…"

Five burning glares became fixated on Antoine, and though he showed no sign of intimidation, the young soldier nonetheless silenced himself. The others did not want to believe Sally could turn her back on her duties and run. They had all known her too long to think that even possible. "It could be Robotnik…" Dr. Quack piped up. "He has been awfully dormant lately…he could've just been biding his time…"

"He might've learned Sonic was missing, thought it was a good time to strike…" Hershey added.

Geoffrey, however, shook his head. "Not his style, luv. Robotnik's an egotist; if he kidnapped Sally, he'd want us to know he did it."

Another theory shot down, conversation in the room halted. Everyone had said their piece, and now all that they had left to do was stare at the two-way radio on the table, waiting for contact from the Search Party. Fortunately for the sanity of all involved, they did not have to wait long. Crackling through the radio's speakers came the voice of Bunnie Rabbot. "This is Bunnie callin' in, d'y'all read?"

At last coming to a halt, Geoffrey answered quickly, "We read you, Bunnie. What've you got for us?"

"Well, mah team wasn't makin' any progress in the Great Forest, so I decided ta break off and check the homefront, see if there wasn't somethin' there."

"And?" Rotor prompted nervously.

"Somethin' happened heah last night, that much is sure. Dunno if it was Sally getting' kidnapped or just a nasty case of rough-housin', but the field at the Lake of Rings is torn up pretty bad." Came the crackling response.

Curious, Geoffrey finally took his seat and asked, "How so?"

"Whole swaths of the field've been upturned," Bunnie replied, "and Ah hate to say it, but this looks an awful lot like what happens when…"

She cut herself off with a sigh, then resumed. "…when Sonic comes runnin' through…"

Immediately, Uncle Chuck spoke out. "Sonic? You mean he came home and we didn't know?"

"Zee Preencess 'as been known to go to ze Lake of Reengs when she ees nervous," Antoine pointed out, and though he was once again met by disapproving glares, he did not stop this time. "Zee implication ees clear: ze 'edge'og returned, and ees at ze very least eenvolved in her deesappeerance."

Resting his chin on his folded hands, Geoffrey sighed. Assessing the situation as best he could, the skunk soon formed a plan, and spelled it out to his fellow council members, as well as Bunnie. "We need to take care of this situation quickly," he began sternly. "Sooner or later news of the Princess' disappearance is going to make it to the populace, and given all the pressure Knothole's been under, that kind of news could cause a disaster."

Lifting his head up and placing his hands on the table, he continued, "Therefore, we are going to inform the people that Sally is missing, that we are doing everything we can to find her, and that until she is returned safely the Royal Council shall assume full authority over Knothole; better they hear it from us than some unscrupulous rumor."

"Seems simple enough," Rotor agreed, "but how are we going to find Sally?"

"The Search Party will continue looking throughout the Great Forest; if need be, we'll send a smaller party to investigate Robotropolis." Geoffrey replied. "In the meantime, we need to follow the leads we've got, and that gives us only one."

Uncle Chuck gave a resigned sigh. "Sonic…"

"I'm sorry, Sir Charles," Geoffrey said, trying his best to extend his genuine sympathy while maintaining his commanding composure, "but he's all we have to go on at the moment. We can't afford to leave that one stone unturned."

The elderly hedgehog furrowed his brow in frustration and opened his mouth to protest angrily. Ultimately, however, he fell silent. "Rotor," Geoffrey turned to the walrus, "can you track him?"

Rotor thought the question over for a moment, than nodded. "There is an old device of mine I built to track a special aura Sonic possesses created by the gradual accumulation of Power Ring energy in his body," he said, "but I haven't used it in years…"

"Dig it up and get it working." Geoffrey ordered. "The sooner we find him, the better."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

She was…standing? Wasn't she lying down against her will before? All sense of sleep had left her, and she now found herself dropped again into a new surrounding. The air tasted like poison, yet Sally did not choke on it. The smell of death hung in the air, and though she felt frightened beyond belief, the Princess also felt as if she was exactly where she belonged, even though she had no idea where she was at all. The endless gray fields she had fallen upon only moments before were gone, or else obscured by the thick green fog that now surrounded Sally on every side. She could not see anything past the fog, and so it was with great trepidation that she took her first steps. Her footfalls echoed much louder than she would have thought possible, so much so that she quickly stopped walking just to silence the noise. For a while, she simply stood. No moving, no sound…nothing. She was alone. She was, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, alone with her thoughts. So she thought. She thought of Sonic. She thought of how, just as she had finally managed to find the courage to tell him how she felt for him, how she had felt for as long as she could remember, he had been torn away from her. She thought about how, after a year spent simultaneously trying to fight a war and mourn a lover, she had finally gotten him back, only to lose him again that very same day to her own impatience. She thought about how, sooner or later, she was now going to have to face him as an enemy, a situation she could never get used to no matter how many times it happened. She thought about how all she wanted right then was to be home with him, and Tails, and her parents, and not have to worry for once about being a Princess or a Child of the Source or anything else but herself. She thought about screaming. So she did. Very, very loudly.

Her voice held for some time before at last she exhausted herself and became silent again. The scream echoed across the fog, and Sally had to admit, it was a frightening thing to hear-all of her rage, frustration, sadness…bottled up and let loose. Just as it faded, however, the echo was replaced by a chorus of moaning voices, the same ones Sally had heard when she had fallen asleep. All speaking on top of each other in the same agonized strain, it was difficult for their individual words to reach Sally. Listening to them hurt her ears, yet she still struggled to make out what was being said. As she did, the fog around her began to whirl and take shape. The voices became clearer. "You…belong here…"

Hands slowly shaped in the fog, reaching for Sally yet coming up just short of her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"We…wait…" came the moaning answer, a thousand voices now speaking as one. "We wait for you…to join us…to be where you belong…"

A terrible ache began to emanate from Sally's chest. She placed her hand over its source…over her heart. "You…you're dead, aren't you?" She realized, speaking through clenched teeth as her pain worsened.

"Yes…"

"Then…you think that I…I'm supposed to be dead, too?" she managed to growl out.

"You fell…you should not have lived…" the voices rasped.

"What happened to you? How did you…how did you come to be…like this…?" She was finding it difficult to breath now, and she could feel herself growing colder with each passing moment, the pain becoming even greater with each heartbeat.

"We have always been…like this…"

The hands were now joined by ghostly bodies emerging from the fog, bodies of all sorts: Mobians, Overlanders, male, female…but they all possessed the same eyes: white, empty eyes that looked at Sally unblinkingly.

"What is this place…?" Sally thought as she began to be overwhelmed by the pain in her chest. Her knees were buckling now, yet she refused to give in. "I don't know…who you are…what you want…" she started.

"We want you…come join us…" the voices interrupted.

"…but I have…too much left…to give up now!" she finished with as much power as she could muster in her voice.

Suddenly, a light from above shot through the fog, landing directly on the young princess. The fog began to disperse, the voices faded away, and Sally looked up to the source of the strange light that now surrounded her. A hand…a familiar white glove…reached down to her. As if from miles away, she heard a voice…his voice…speak to her with words she could swear she had heard before. "Come back, Sal…I love you…"

"Sonic…" she whispered, and placed her hand in his. She felt the pain in her chest ease, and her feet slowly left the ground. She began floating closer and closer to the light…

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

With a sharp jerk, Sally was lifted by her arm off the ground. It took her a moment to realize she was back in the wasteland, face to face with the burning red eyes of Sonic. "Glad to see you could join us, Princess…" he chuckled. "You have a nice nap?"

Without thinking, Sally snapped her arm out of his grip, stumbling backwards a bit as she felt a slight rush to her head. "Amodeus finally decided to come after me, I see…" she spat as she recomposed herself.

"Naw, the old goat told me to stick it out with him 'n' Lilith…but I'm not a big fan of following orders." The hedgehog responded, watching Sally with great amusement.

"I can testify to that…" Sally muttered to herself, then quickly spoke up, "What just happened to me? What…what were those things?"

"The old goat calls 'em 'echoes'…imprints of a spirit left behind when someone dies." He answered.

"More new information…" Sally thought. She had been told as a child that, at death, the spirit of a living being dispersed across the ether from which it came, or else ascended to the Realm of Aurora and the Walkers. No one had ever told her of these "echoes" before.

Sonic had slowly begun circling her, and his predatory motion had not gone unnoticed. Still he continued to speak, eyeing her carefully, "Usually, echoes fade away within seconds of their creation, but sometimes if enough of them are created at once in a concentrated area, they merge together and become substantial enough to last…"

Rather than simply stand idly by as the hedgehog spoke to her, Sally assumed a fighting stance, signaling to Sonic that, if he wished to battle her, she was ready. An amused grin came upon him, and he again spoke to her, though this time his tone was darkened. "You still don't understand, do you? This," and with that word he swept his hand around him, bringing the desolation that surrounded them back to Sally's attention, "is your doing. You and your kind brought these Deadlands into existence."

His words carried an edge of disgust in them that cut Sally deeply. Still she did not let this show. She refused to forget the situation she was in, the stakes of her choices, no matter how hard circumstance tried to distract her. "During the Great War, this was a forest, full of life..." Sonic resumed.

"One day, though, it became a battlefield for the Mobians and the Overlanders, and a critical one at that. The Overlanders were carrying an experimental new weapon, you see, one that could win the war for them, and if it was successfully brought to the capital city of Mobotropolis, your kind would be finished."

Unlike almost every other tale told to her that day, this story sounded vaguely familiar to Sally. She had not been afforded many opportunities to learn at length about the history of the Great War that had acted in many ways as a precursor to Robotnik's destructive coup, but she still had sufficient knowledge of it, and the history Sonic now relayed to her seemed to ring a bell.

That was when it dawned on her, and a chilling realization brought a name to her lips. "The Battle of Northwood…" she whispered, as if afraid to speak the name too loudly.

"So...are you finally starting to get the picture?" The hedgehog had stopped moving, though he looked at the barren ground rather than Sally's eyes as he asked her.

The Battle of Northwood: a conflict that occurred toward the end of the Great War. Initiated when it was learned that an Overlander troop was attempting to transport an extremely dangerous new weapon to be used in a siege of Mobotropolis by traveling through the unprotected Northwood Forest area. A Mobian Counterforce was sent to stop the weapon from being brought to Mobotropolis, and managed to engage the Overlander force in Northwood. The battle ended in tragedy when the weapon was accidentally set off during the fighting, destroying the entirety of Northwood as well as several surrounding villages, killing thousands.

A single entry in a textbook flashed through her mind, a snapshot from when she had been forced into a strange kind of house arrest by her father and left with little else to do but read through every book she could find. At the time, it had struck her as a tragedy, but nothing of immediate concern. Now, however, she stood upon the very spot. She stood upon the grave of thousands. It was a knowledge that again brought a faint trace of the pain she had felt while in the grip of the Echoes, a feeling even more unpleasant in the waking world. Sonic's voice, now the sharpest and harshest she could recall hearing it, spoke once more. "The freedom you fought for so hard…it leads here. Every time." Still he did not look at her, but she could see in his slowly shifting stance that he was preparing to attack.

"So instead, we let ourselves be slaves to this 'Daxis'?" Sally asked contemptuously, her entire body tightened with the strength of feeling that flowed through her. "How can you say that, Sonic? After everything we've been through?"

The shock in the hedgehog's eyes at the mention of his name indicated that Sally had taken her enemy by surprise, a change she could not resist feeling some gladness for. "How do you know my name?" Sonic asked cautiously, his attention now fully on the Princess.

She was unsure how to answer him, though she was not surprised to learn he did not remember her. She still did not know just what Lilith and Amodeus had done to him, but it was not beyond conception, given the strange powers they had already demonstrated, that they had somehow taken away Sonic's memories. "ANSWER ME!!!" Sonic barked after a few seconds.

Sally's instinct was to tell the truth, to try and remind him of his true self, his past. Yet something held her back. Though she knew more now than when this nightmare had started, the young princess still did not know the full extent of the power she was dealing with. "Could confronting him with his past put him in danger?" a fearful voice nagged at the back of her thoughts.

It was this fear that held her tongue. Instead, Sally could only bring herself to look Sonic in the eye. Her silence angered the hedgehog. "No answer, huh? Well, maybe I can change your mind..."

His sentence dissolved into more condescending laughter. With a deep sigh, the hedgehog forced himself to stop. "Oh well," he chortled, "joke's over. Time to have some real fun…"

Without so much as a second between his words and his actions, Sonic took off from where he stood and charged directly at Sally, a fist outstretched, and the princess was forced in an instant to push all else out of her thoughts. Despite the hedgehog's speed, Sally was not unprepared for his attack. Swiftly she moved to the side of his strike, grabbing the hedgehog's outstretched arm and swinging him around in one liquid-like motion. He was soon released, tumbling through the air and onto the gray dirt of the ground. In the blink of an eye, however, he was back on his feet. Now, however, his grin was that of an animal ready to close in on its prey, his eyes projecting a hideous feeling of exhilaration. He turned to her with a lick of his lips, and growled out, "I knew it was a good idea to track you down…this will be the perfect game…"

To Be Continued…