Chapter 7
At the prison, Shadow walked around the cell trying to figure out a way to get out. Shadow turned to see the commander opening the cell door with 2 guards.
"Let's get this over with, Life-form." The commander said.
"Where are we going?" he asked. After no response Shadow realized what was gonna happen and held his throat. "Oh..."
Mephiles picked the last flower out of Shade's hair. "There. It never happened." He put the flower in the basket and got up.
Shade sat on her bed holding something in her hands.
"Wash up for dinner. I'm making hazelnut soup." He turned to look at Shade. "I really did try, Shade. I tried to warn you what was out there. The world is dark and selfish and cruel. If it even finds the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it." Mephiles closed the curtains to her room leaving her alone.
Shade opened her hands to reveal the cloth that Shadow bought her. She looked at Espio who looked at her turning blue and laid on her. Shade lay down on her bed clutching the cloth to her heart. She looked at the top of her canopy bed and noticed something.
As she looked closer at once of the pictures she drew on the canopy, something started to show. She looked at the cloth then back at the picture. She sat up and stared long enough to see the same exact silver crescent moon as on the cloth and it seemed to glow silver also. She looked at other pictures she drew and saw the exact same thing happening to them also.
She got up and looked all around her room and she saw a flashback of when she was younger.
~A baby girl with black fur and bangs, white hair that reached her toes, and deep red eyes was playing in a crib. She watched the mobile with the kingdom's symbol above her with interest trying to reach it. Arelia was watching her, laughing. The symbol was a crescent moon in honor of the flower that helped them both live.
Shade looked over at a wall with a glass-stone picture on it. The little pieces making a mural. It was Queen Arelia holding a baby. She had black fur and bangs, long ivory hair, and big deep red eyes like Shade.
It was a tiara. It was black and had 7 different colored jewels in each part of it. Emerald green, ruby red, silver, gold, dark blue, sea blue, and violet. She looked back at the mirror and placed the tiara on her head.~
Shade screamed and back up into the vanity mirror almost falling. Her eyes widened as she put 2 and 2 together.
The guards were now taking Shadow away. He looked down sad until he saw Jet and Storm in a cell across from him. His sadness turned into rage. He pushed the guards off of him and jumped to maneuver his handcuffed hands under him to face forward. He grabbed Jet by his chest and pulled him up to his face through the bars.
"How did you know about her?! Tell me! NOW!"
"It-it wasn't us!" Jet stuttered. "It was the old man!"
"Old man?" Shadow whispered. "No." the guards grabbed ahold of Shadow again and pushed him away from the cell towards his death. "NO! WAIT! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! SHE'S IN TROUBLE!"
"Shade?" Mephiles started to walk up the steps to Shade's room. "Shade, what's going on up there?"
Shade looked down taking deep breaths.
"Are you alright?"
Shade walked out of her room holding the curtains. "I'm the lost princess..." she whispered.
"Ugh, please speak up, Shade. You know how I hate the mumbling." Mephiles demanded.
"I am the lost princess," she replied louder, "aren't I?"
Mephiles' eyes widened in shock.
"Did I mumble, father? Or should I even call you that?"
Mephiles walked up to her, "Shade, do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?"
Shade pushed him away, "It was you! It was all you!"
Mephiles got angry, "Everything I did was to protect you."
Shade pushed him out of the way and walked down the steps.
"Shade-"
"I have spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my power..."
"Shade!"
"...but I should've been hiding from you."
"Where will you go?" he said.
Shadow was being taken to an open part of the prison with a wooden post holding a rope with a hangman standing next to it.
"He won't be there for you."
"What did you do to him?"
"That criminal is to be hanged for his crimes."
Shade gasped and looked away, "No..." Mephiles stood in front of her.
"Now, now it's alright. All of this is as it should be." He was about to pet her head, but Shade grabbed his wrist tightly.
"No! You were wrong about the world. And you were wrong about me!" Shade's hand stared to glow. "And I will NEVER let you use my hair AGAIN!" the light in Shade's hand seemed to hurt Mephiles. He ripped his hand from her and he knocked over the mirror breaking the glass all over the floor. He looked at his wrist and saw that part of it crystal.
Shade didn't know what she just did, but she didn't care. She turned and walked away towards the window.
"Alright," Mephiles said with the whites of his eyes turning dark pink, "You want me to the bad guy. Fine. Now I'm the bad guy..."
Shadow tried to get out of their grips, but couldn't and was running out of time. He looked to the right and saw a tiny ceramic unicorn in ledge of the wall. He made a confused look as they neared one of the door entrances. But the door closed on the commander as well as the one on the side and in back of them.
"What's this?" the commander said. He banged on the door yelling, "Open up!"
The peep hole on the door opened to reveal the yellow hedgehog girl now sober from the Snuggly Duckling.
"What's the password." She said before closing the hole.
"What?"
"Nope!" she said before closing it again.
"OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Open, "Not even close.", close.
"You have 3 seconds!" as he said that a gloved hand with spikes on it came above the guards and Shadow.
"One..." one guard disappeared.
"...Two..." the door on the side opened and a gloved hand with a blue aura around it took the other guard. His helmet fell to the ground and the commander turned around.
"...Three..." the commander looked around confused as Shadow just stood there waving.
Wave from behind him came a whacked him in the head with a frying pan.
"Frying pans." Shadow said smiling, "Who knew, right?"
As Knuckles dropped down from the ceiling and undid Shadow's handcuffs, the door behind them burst open with 3 angry soldiers coming out of it. Knuckles dragged him out the side door, Wave following, and they ran towards the yard of the prison.
The soldiers followed until they were stopped by Big the Cat who had his hand out. He started to mime as if he was in a box making the soldiers confused. Soon he looked to his right with the soldiers following. They heard Vector roaring and running straight at them. They screamed like little girls as Vector rammed into them with Big making an "oh my gosh" look.
When the group, got to the yard a wagon was placed next to them. The soldiers were storming into the place and fast. Knuckles placed Shadow on the handles of the wagon and told him instructions and he repeated.
"Head down..."
"Head down..."
"Arms in..."
"Arms in..."
"Knees apart..."
"Knees apart... knees apart?"
Vector jumped on the wagon sending Shadow flying into the air arms and legs flailing.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
He was about to land face first on the roof until someone caught him. He opened his eyes and saw Sonic holding him. His face was an inch from the ground and would have been touching it if it weren't for him.
"What would you do without me?" he said smirking and helping him up.
"Sonic? You brought them here?"
"Naturally."
"Thank you."
"It was nothing." Sonic started to walk forward.
"No really, thank you. Uh, I feel like maybe the whole time we've just been misunderstanding one another and..."
Sonic stared at him for the longest time.
"Yeah, you're right, we should go." He said quickly.
Soldiers burst open the door to the roof and shot arrows at the 2 of them as they ran. Sonic grabbed Shadow's hand and ran faster. Other soldiers from an adjoining roof started to run and Shadow noticed a head on collision coming.
"Uh, Sonic?"
"This is why I'm called the fastest thing alive." He replied. Sonic ran even faster appearing as a blue blur and jumped off the edge of the roof. The 2 of them landed on the roofs of houses and jumped down to the ground.
"Ok, Sonic...Let's see how fast you can really run." Shadow said.
Sonic ran even faster zooming past people and trees as if nothing was in his way with Shadow hanging along for the ride.
They entered the canyon with the tower and Shadow yelled for Shade.
"Shade?! Shade let down your hair!" After no response Shadow started to climb up the tower until he heard the window's doors opening. Soon Shade's hair was thrown out the window and he climbed on smiling. He looked back at Sonic.
"I'll stay down here." He said.
Shadow climbed up the hair hoping to see Shade safe.
As he got inside he said, "Shade. I thought I'd never see you again..." Shadow saw Shade tied up to a pole with her mouth covered by a cloth. She was saying something but he couldn't understand, and it was too late.
Shadow held his side in pain as Mephiles stabbed the dagger in him. When he took it out, Shadow fell to the ground.
"Now look what you've done, Shade." He said walking over to her. "Oh, don't worry. Our secret will die with him."
Shade tried to crawl over to him as Mephiles unhooked her from the pole and pulled her to the old staircase in the floor from earlier. Espio watched from the fireplace.
"As for us," he started grunting, "we are going...where no one...will...ever find you...again..."
Espio ran over and tugged on his cloak with all his might. Mephiles got annoyed and kicked Espio into the wall making him unconscious. He pulled Shade up.
"Shade really! ENOUGH ALREADY! STOP...FIGHTING ME!"
Shade pulled back and fell to the ground with the cloth around her mouth slipping off.
"NO!" she yelled. "I won't stop for every minute of the rest of my life I will fight! I will NEVER stop trying to get away from you! But if you let me save him I will go with you..."
Mephiles stared at her.
"No..." Shadow said weakly, "Shade..." Espio woke up to see what was going on.
She continued, "I'll never run. I will never try to escape. Just let me heal him, and you and I will be together. Forever, just like you want. And everything will be the way it was...I promise...Just like you want..."
Espio eyes widened. She never broke a promise and she knew what she was risking. Her life, her friends, and worst of all her freedom.
"...Just...let me...heal him..."
Mephiles put the chains from Shade onto Shadow's wrist and tied him to a pole. He pulled his arm up to hurt him more. "Incase you get any ideas about following us..."
He walked away and Shade knelt beside him worried holding his head.
"Shadow!" he coughed trying to sit up but slipped back down clutching his side in pain. She moved his hand away as she saw all the blood seeping out.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Everything's gonna be okay." She took some of her hair and was about to wrap it around the wound until Shadow kept pushing her hand back.
"No." he said.
"I promise, you have to trust me. Come on just breathe-"
"No. I can't... I can't let you do this..."
"And I can't let you die..."
"But if you do this, then you...will die..."
"Hey, hey...it's gonna be alright." She whispered.
She was about to sing the song when Shadow stopped her.
"Shade...wait..." he put his hand on her cheek about to kiss her, but did something else. He grabbed her hair and cut it with glass that was on the floor.
Shade's hair started to turn red. "Shadow! What...why..." she stammered.
"NO!" Mephiles shouted.
Shade looked at her hair as it turned red. Mephiles grabbed the hair screaming, "What have you done?!" He started to turn crystal and his mouth disappeared. The whites of his eyes turned dark pink and his green eyes turn neon.
He looked at the broken mirror and saw himself. He put the cloak on his head screaming. Espio saw this and pulled the hair over tripping him. Mephiles fell out the window with Shade reaching out her hand for him.
He fell down the tower screaming. Sonic turned to see something crash to the ground. He walked over and saw millions of broken crystals that disappeared into dust leaving the cloak behind.
Inside, Shade breathed heavily before turning back to Shadow. He lay limp on the floor and Shade held him.
"No,no,no,no,no, Shadow."
Shadow coughed before opening his eyes a bit then closing them again.
"No, look at me! Look at me! Stay with me, Shadow!" she put his hand on her head. "Flower gleam and glow, let your...power shine...Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine..."
"Shade..." Shadow said weakly. She looked at him about to cry. He whispered, "...you are my new dream..."
"...And you are mine."
Shadow smiled before his eyes closed and his breathing slowed to a stop. Shade put his hand down and stroked his cheek. She sang the rest of the song, "Heal what has been hurt...changed the Fate's design...save what has been lost...bring back what once was mine...
"What once was mine..." Shade began to cry and a tear fell onto Shadow's cheek. Everything in the tower was dark with the only light coming from window. The tear on Shadow's cheek disappeared into his skin, and a white light appeared under it. It moved toward his wound and something happened.
Shade opened her eyes to see the wound glowing bright white. The light from it brightened the room with millions of different swirls and patterns in the sky. The wound itself had a petal looking design of light around it. The light soon dimmed and the wound disappeared.
Shade looked at the wound before turning back to Shadow. His eyelids moved a bit. He slowly opened his eyes to see Shade looking at him.
"Shade?"
Shade smiled. "Shadow?"
"Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for redheads?"
Shade laughed and held him tight, "Shadow!" He sat holding her as well all the light in the room seemed to come back. When they let go, Shade chuckled before kissing him and he returned it.