It had been a two weeks since Sonic first started his new life of food delivery. Nights were usually reserved for his shift alongside Amy but on occasion he would have to venture to his new job during the midday when the lunch orders were too much for the normal deliverers to handle. Many times Sonic was irritated during his route at his lack of speedily deliveries. His stitch, his fame, his livelihood was completely gone because of some mysterious force that seemed to make his legs feel like concrete rather than air. However, anytime he thought of complaining out loud he would stop when the thought of Amy's schedule entered his mind. For countless years she worked at the diner, running rampant at times that would make any normal person faint from the mountain of tasks required within tiny fractions of time. It was constant chaos in Amy's life that would have driven Sonic to his breaking point time and again. Yet, she never once showed a single sign of waver or fatigue on the job. The only signs of any kind of break in her concentration were smiles of happiness to the customers who treated her well and the customers that got the lovely pleasure of having their faces burrowed into the nearest wall for taking a cheeky shot at trying to get a squeeze of her butt.
This didn't surprise Sonic that her infamous rage was still as tempered as ever, it also seemed to have been taken notice by everyone else. Each time it would happen no one would contest the action or even try to scold Amy for her reckless antics towards the wilder natured customers. After all it was partly a bar, right? Surely some of Amy's admirers must be a group of masochists if they not only tolerated the extreme pain on what seemed like a daily routine.
"I just don't understand why they keep coming back," Sonic officially threw out common sense while on his lunch break. It was one of those busy days where a pile of deliveries awaited his arrival to work during the dreaded "midday crisis". His eyes still glowed red with exhaustion from the previous night's adventure and his body ached in ways that screamed at his middle-aged body was starting to wear and tear apart from the inside. He had just finished the first half of delivery requests and finally returned to the diner for a speedy lunch break before beginning round two. Amy also coincidentally finally received her break after destroying the faces of three of her paparazzi fans by bashing their bodies into the mincemeat for grabbing a quick squeeze of her bottom. "How in the world can someone even be within the same country mile as you when they go through something like that?"
"As long as they pay for the meal and their actions then I will live through it," Amy sighed in defeat with the idea of a normal day of waitressing. "They have decent tastes at least but boys will always be horny boys."
"You might be giving yourself a bit too much credit there, Amy," Sonic pinched his fingers while wincing his eye. "I mean I wouldn't be surprised if most of those guys acted like that to any decent looking girl on the block."
"Do you want to join in their misery?" Amy's veins popped over her eye symbolized her frustration as she summoned her giant mallet from the nether space that it seemed to have always resided. "You might be still a pretty boy but you need to learn when to keep that slick tongue of yours wrapped up, buster."
"Take it easy, Amy, only joking," Sonic's laugh was dry and cracked multiple times as he recited his line to try and appease the berserker. "It's just refreshing to see you're still the same in some ways as I remember."
"I could say the same for you but it's more on the side of worse than better in my opinion," Amy growled as she furiously tapped the employee's table with a tempered fury. "That cocky attitude always bit us all in the butt when you pushed it too far."
"Oh come on, name one time that has gotten us in trouble?" Sonic tried to laugh it off but Amy's face turned irritated to the point that he had to retract his statement. "Wait don't answer that. I get the feeling I don't want to remember."
"So how's things going so far with you?" Amy finally decided to change the subject while the clock hanging in the room dinged three times. "I mean with your speed being basically neutered?"
"It sucks," Sonic scratched the back of his left ear with irritation at the question. "If I was at one hundred percent then I would be done with all orders within a few minutes. Yet here I am, barely making it on time with them. I just wish I knew what was slowing me down."
"If it were my guess I would say it's something mental," Amy pointed to her companion's forehead with vigor. "Remember when Sally died? You were a wreck back then. It's rare that it happens to you but I'll be honest. Depression is really a dangerous thing around you."
Silence gripped the room at the mention of Sonic's ex-wife and his face dropped in depression. Amy quickly regretted her words and she followed in the silence while looking away with regret.
"Ugh, my aching back," Welvrana burst into the lounge with the loudest of groans that seemed to snap life back into Amy and Sonic's eyes with a mighty jolt. "Damn young kids and their antics are such a pain."
"Another one, huh?" Amy couldn't help but let a soft chuckle at the sight of her boss in duress even after all the years working under her. "What did they do this time to push your buttons?"
"Tried to dine and dash," Welvrana then clicked her tongue in frustration as a vein in her forehead swelled. "Kid is now going to wash every dish and inch of the kitchen till it's spotless, I tell you."
"So you two enjoying your reunion after so long?" Welvrana slammed into the adjacent chair with an irrational amount of force. "I mean meeting under such circumstances aren't ideal but at least there is someone that personally knows Sonic T. Hedgehog."
"Yeah if only we were to meet under better circumstances," Sonic's laugh cracked even worse than before and his eyes seemed to distill the definition of an abyss of depression. "Anyways, boss, I was wondering if you could tell me a little about this nation. I mean for the foreseeable future I am going to be living here after all."
"Well we have time before the next shift so I guess I can spare the time," Welvrana nodded her head with acceptance of the offer. "Just don't ask how I know some of the old stuff. A woman's age should never come into question after all."
"Did anything major happen just over forty-five years ago? There was a time when Wyvern Kingdom held an alliance with Acorn Kingdom before it crumbled under Dr, Robotnik. I was wondering if you might know what caused the reason why Wyvern never sent any aid. Once Robotnik took over we never heard a peep from anyone about Wyvern Kingdom and it basically became a legend to the normal folk. Heck, even I never believed the stories until I got here."
Welvrana's face turned stone cold at the question. It would take a minute for her to compose herself to answer the question Sonic gave. "Our best king we ever had was assassinated. Him and all of his successors in one terrible night. It was the beginning of an era of despair for all of us."
Sonic's ears twitched when he registered Welvrana's words. The familiarity to the era of the original Robotnik made his blood hot for a bit when he thought back to the image of that tyrant. Welvrana continued with the deepest of sighs, " Raviel, that was the name of the forced successor to the throne. He was an extremely distant cousin apparently to the old king. The moment he took the throne, our lives across the nation were destroyed. Able men were round up for the military force, young girls were taken away to the capital to please the soldiers, and villages were burned to the ground for the slightest hint of resistance. There was even a genocide for many species, and the Reaver Clan flooded the streets."
"What is the Reaver Clan?" the sound of the group brought an unease in Sonic's stomach.
"They are assassins to put it lightly," Welvrana then shivered at the description she gave of the horrors. "Assassins born of shadows, wielding necrotic magic, they killed for the king after he hired them during the Great Purge. If you see shadows draped in a cloak of darkness, that's them."
"Sounds bad," Sonic shrugged his shoulder with arrogance like he always did when hearing danger was around him. "Why is it always the shady ones that are the most dangerous?"
"They are not a group you should be even consider joking about," Welvrana's horrified face plunged into Sonic's smug grin. "You haven't experienced entire families you have grown up with all your life just get whisked off without a sign overnight. Then the next morning you find their bodies mutilated in pieces all over the streets. Death and terror was all we saw during the Age of Raviel. That turned out to be the best thing about the age though."
"How could things be any worse?" Sonic was flabbergasted by the simple notion that things were even worse for this country.
"Raviel, he and his wife's real goal through the whole ordeal apparently were to resurrect a demon god sealed away within the land," Welvrana's tail twitched with rage while her voice dripped with despair. "Thanatos, that's what the demon's name was. Bearer of a plague that would swallow the entire planet. It's said in the legends that Thanatos requires the deepest pits of despair across this land. So much that the magical energies that radiate from all the living beings ooze with sorrow and hopelessness. It must had been very close being completed. However, the remnants of the resistance continued to hide and plot, hopping for a slight chance to take back their land."
Welvrana's eyes teared up as her hands quaked and her body shivered rapidly. "But, little did we all know our salvation would come from not only Raviel's step son but also the Androdracon's returned."
"Androdracon's?" Sonic was taken aback by the odd name. "What are Androdracons?"
"They are an ancient race with legendary dragon's flowing through their veins. They are all Halflings of varying races but all wielding destructive strength of dragons who no longer walk these lands. At least no one has seen a dragon in three decades. The Androdracons are very secretive and disappeared shortly after Raviel's arrival. No one but our lord knows where they went, for he too turned out to be an Androdracon. After that, with the Androdracons, Barret, and what little force the resistance had, we were able to destroy Raviel. Then all there is to tell is we started rebuilding and Barret was named king. However, he gave most of the power to the new senate and simply watched over the land while every so often disappearing for unknown reasons. Usually he returns with his queen after a few months or so and we hold a festival when he returns."
"Is there anything else you know? Like why no word of these events were sent to Acorn Kingdom or what Barret has been doing all this time?" Sonic wanted more after listening to Welvrana's explanation. A few key questions still lingered in his mind.
"Unfortunately only Barret himself would know," Welvrana shook her head solemnly.
"To get the full story I guess then would be best to ask Barret directly?" Sonic concluded that there had to be a better explanation to both the Androdracons and the missing details that Welvrana couldn't tell him. "I'll need to find a way to speak to him when he returns."
"I doubt even with your reputation you would be able to get an audience with him," Welvrana shook her head. "Most of his visitors go through the senate and the chances they even care about you is slim to none. The only hope you have is if he happens to want to speak with you."
Sonic clicked his tongue with irritation. His reputation as indeed known even in Wyvern Kingdom, but nowhere near as glorified as it was back in Acorn. His life wasn't getting any easier anytime soon it seemed.
"Enough of the depressing talk," Welvrana stretched her body with vigor and wiped away the tears still stuck in her eyes. "Customers are waiting and our break has been over for a while now, so I am expecting extra hard work coming from the both of you!"
With that Welvrana waved off her employees as she returned to her post. Amy got off of her chair as well and then paused for a moment as she was about to leave. "I know it's hard to believe there is another kingdom that underwent possibly as much, if not as more turmoil as we did. However, they have learned just like we had to learn. To rebuild everything starts with the smallest of steps."
Sonic froze for the longest time he had ever remained still before. Finally he nodded as Amy left him, but he bit his lip all the same. He knew what she was saying, but had she also started her recovery? Amy meanwhile also bite her lip as well. Had she really recovered after leaving Acorn? Or did she still have the same painful feelings she thought had been abandoned all those years ago?
The rest of the day passed with more customers and less downtime for the entire establishment. Sonic's feet felt like cinderblocks when he finally arrived home with Amy. Not a word was passed between the two as they entered the small cottage, only moans for relief. Dinner was skipped and they both threw themselves onto their bedding in unison, Sonic on the couch in the living room, Amy in her own bed. All they desired for and wished for was sweet sleep.
A howl from feral wolves echoed into the dead of night. A figure draped in shadows zipped through the thicket with extreme precision and speed. The symbolic black cloak covered the entire figure with the night as it came upon Amy's cottage. With great acrobatics, the figure leaped onto the roof without a sound and stared down into the chimney. Then the figured morphed and contorted its body into a shadow before leaping into the hole with great haste. The shadow zipped along the ground through the cottage, not a sound was exuded from the intruder until it came upon a sleeping Sonic. The being reformed into its cloaked physical body and a pair of amber eyes glowed like searchlights down at the sleeping Sonic. The figure bent down towards the unaware suspect and inspected Sonic for quite a time.
"Sonic T. Hedgehog," the voice was masked by a loud hiss that barely made the words audible.
Suddenly, the lights in the cottage burst to life and the figure leaped away into the air as Sonic's eyes shot opened with urgency. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Amy's voice roared to life and as soon as the intruder leapt away, her raging mallet smashed through the flooring where the intruder stood not a moment ago. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, REAVER!"
"Amy, be careful," Sonic had squirmed out of his makeshift bed and stood with his friend shoulder to shoulder. His fists tightened ready to fight and defend his friend to the death. " I don't know what he wants but keep your eyes open."
"Sheathe your weapons," the Reaver held out its arm in a sign of peace. "I am not here to hurt any of you." Then the intruder grabbed its hood and removed it, revealing its face. It was a woman, a young woman to be precise, but Sonic nearly feel over in shock at what he saw. It was an echidna, with skin as dark as her cloak draped in the abyss, but an echidna none the less. "I am here to speak to the Sonic."
"Impossible," Sonic was flabbergasted at the fact another echidna existed in the world. Knuckles and his family were all the known echidnas in the world besides the remnants of Shadow's forces. "There are more echidnas?"
"Echidna?" the intruder's head titled quizzically for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. "My clan hasn't been recognized or called echidnas since my ancestors. It's interesting to be called something we had left behind long ago."
"You mean there are more of you? Knuckles would be so happy," Amy was taken aback as well with the revelation that more echidnas existed in the world.
"Most of my clan is of the same breed as me, though we are only a small cluster of people," the woman then bowed softly before the two. "My apologies, I am called Mara. I know much of both of you Sonic and Amy. I am sorry to trouble you both at such a late hour."
"It's fine as long as you are here to cause no trouble, but why is a Reaver visiting us?" Amy dispelled her mallet into the nether with caution. "Your reputation doesn't exactly instill good intentions."
"I am here by orders of the lord of this nation, Barret," Mara's then retracted her hood with her eyes still glowing like a pair of flashlights. "He wishes to speak with you Sonic. My lord shall return within a fortnight, before then he wishes to speak with you."
Before Sonic could respond, Mara formed back into a shadow and disappeared into the night, leaving Sonic and Amy staring at where Mara stood in dismay. They both were unable to comment about what they had just witnessed. They both had seen many strange things in Acorn Kingdom, but nothing could have them ready for what they were about to experience together.
It's been awhile hasn't it guys. Sorry about all the waiting but life took a pimp slap to the face and ripped me through at least 3 laptops of me writing out the ENITRE story before being wipped out. So I would rewrite, and rewrite. Finally I got tired of it for awhile and took a long hiatus. Finally I am kinda back. I am in college so my activity and updates will not be as frequent as before but I still will tyr to give you guys closure. I will also be publishing my original stories on my account as well. The Reaper's Game got rewritten to Death's Awakening (working on re-uploading). Also a new project, a bit of an interesting one I am working on, chapter one is almost done. So go ahead and follow me again. I promise I am alive.