Chapter 2 - Cursed

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I know, I take forever to update. I apologise but hopefully the chapter will make up for it XD

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When Rouge finally came round, her wings were in agony but she somehow managed to keep quiet, mainly due to the fact she was barely awake.
"Where.. Where am I?" she murmured.

Rouge looked at her surroundings. The walls had been painted cream and the floor was plain wooden laminate. In front of Rouge was a large fireplace, which had several logs burning away underneath. The cracking and popping of the fire gave Rouge something to concentrate on.

Rouge was lying on her stomach on the sofa, which dulled the pain in her back. Just then Rouge saw another sofa with Knuckles asleep on it.
"Knuckles!" she exclaimed, suddenly rolling over and almost falling off the sofa.
"Easy Rouge. Don't worry about Knuckles, he'll be fine," a female voice said, catching Rouge before she fell and pushing her back onto the sofa.

"Who are you? And how do you know me?" Rouge asked harshly.
"My name is Aeronniell and I know some of your friends, including Knuckles. Now try to keep still," Aeronniell said gently, as she took a warm, damp cloth and began to clean up the cuts on her wings and back. Rouge flinched as the hot water stung the cuts.

"So you're the mystery friend Knuckles keeps talking about. How long have I been out for?" Rouge asked.
"We found you a few hours ago. You said Knuckles's name and it's a good thing too. Had you not said that, we wouldn't have found him."
"Where am I? " Rouge asked.
"My house in The Forest of the Elementi," Aeronniell explained.

Rouge nodded and watched in amazement as Aeronniell dipped her hands in a bowl of water and they began to glow blue. Aeronniell then reached out to touch Rouge's wings but Rouge batted her hands away.
"Oh, no you don't. I've had enough hocus pocus for one day," Rouge exclaimed.

"Rouge, I'm trying to heal your broken wing. It's painless," Aeronniell explained calmly. (Apparently this sort of thing happened to Aeronniell a lot)
"Fine, but if it hurts, you're in big trouble," Rouge warned.
Aeronniell shook her head with a smile and gently touched Rouge's wings. They slowly healed and knitted themselves back together and as promised, it didn't hurt too badly.
"As creepy as that was, thank you," Rouge said afterwards.

"You're welcome... What happened to you two, anyway?" Aeronniell asked curiously.

Rouge tried to relax and thought about what had happened.

"Knuckles was looking for his next big treasure. Oh, what was it called again? The Gem of Duty, yes, that was it. Anyway, I decided to follow him, but when he found the gem, Knuckles said that neither of us could take it," Rouge explained before pausing.

"I began to feel really, really weird, like something was trying to control me or influence my thoughts, I felt selfish and greedy. I couldn't control it and I tried to take the Gem. Knuckles knocked it out of the way and- Wait a second, Knuckles said that the Gem's cursed! I have to help him."

Rouge tried to get up but Aeronniell stopped her. "Rouge, take it easy. I'll ask my friend to take him up to the Ancient Ones, they'll know what to do," Aeronniell explained calmly. Rouge felt dizzy from her sudden movement and slumped back down. She slowly began to drift back into unconsciousness.

"Rouge, what cursed Knuckles? You need to tell me," Aeronniell exclaimed, shaking her shoulder to try to keep her awake. Rouge muttered something before she fell asleep but Aeronniell didn't hear.
"Dang," Aeronniell muttered. Aeronniell quickly headed next-door and thumped on the door.

A red and black Komodo Dragon opened the door in surprise. "Geez, Aeronniell. Try to keep the door on its hinges," he smirked. Then he noticed a worried look on Aeronniell's face. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Karn, I really need your help. Could you get Stephenson and Conrad for me? I need to get Knuckles up to the Ancient Ones to ask for their help. I also need a few messages sent to Sonic and his friends, as quickly as possible," Aeronniell rushed.
Karn nodded. "Alright, I'll look for them now," he said calmly.

"Thank you," Aeronniell smiled.

Aeronniell headed back to her own house and went into the sitting room, where Rouge and Knuckles were resting. Knuckles looked uneasy, he was groaning and wincing in pain and looked quite pale. Beads of sweat covered his brow and his breathing was rapid but laboured.

Aeronniell crouched down beside him and wiped his forehead with a cold cloth in an attempt to break the fever."It'll be alright Knuckles.. I promise,"...

Sonic was enjoying a normal day at the beach with Tails. So far, they'd had a pretty good day. The sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. "Sonic, are you coming in the water for a bit? It's nice and cool," Tails asked, as he splashed in the sea.

"No thanks Tails, maybe later," Sonic said awkwardly. He was sunbathing on the top of a sand dune to steer clear of the water, since didn't like it at all.
"What about an Ice cream?" Tails asked. Sonic smirked.
"You're on!" he exclaimed, standing up and sliding down the sand dune, towards Tails.

Sonic waited for Tails on the shore. A little wave touched Sonic's shoe and left a black gem by his foot. Sonic picked it up and stared at it. Tails waded out of the water and came to see what Sonic had found. "Isn't that the black Fire Opal?" Tails asked, picking up a towel and drying himself off. Sonic nodded.

"How did this get here? I thought Aeronniell gave it to Knuckles, the week after we stopped Eggman and Karn," Sonic said. Tails noticed the doubt and concern in Sonic's voice.
"Maybe Knuckles dropped it," Tails suggested. Sonic wasn't so sure.

Just then, it began to get incredibly windy "Sonic, What's going on?" Tails yelled above the deafening noise of the wind.

"Get down!" Sonic exclaimed, as he threw himself into the sand. Tails did the same. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, until it became a mini- tornado. Sonic automatically put his arm over Tails to stop him from blowing away. "Hang on!" Sonic called, clutching onto a rock that was sticking out of the sand.

The wind suddenly stopped, leaving a bright orange hedgehog standing on the shore. He wore distressed blue jeans and a red vest top. Sonic and Tails looked up, Sonic spat out a mouthful of sand. "Conrad?" Tails exclaimed.

"Hey guys, sorry about my um.. Entrance," he smirked.
"It's ok, I like to eat sand," Sonic said sarcastically.
"Oh, good," Conrad smirked. "I've got a message for you from Aeronniell. She said it was urgent," he explained, passing Sonic a note. Sonic and Tails sat up and silently read the message:

Dear Sonic and Tails,

I hate to say it, but the worst has come to pass. I would write what has happened but it would take up too much time, besides, we don't really know what is going on.

I need you to meet me at the Autumn tree in about five minutes. I've sent a message to Shadow too, you all need to see this. But just be prepared... It's Knuckles.

Aeronniell Bluewaters.

"If Aeronniell thinks it's urgent, we should go. Knuckles could be hurt," Tails said moments later.
"Knuckles did go treasure hunting a few days ago," Sonic remarked. Jumping to his feet and helping Tails get up.

"I have to go and give this to Shadow. See ya," Conrad smirked.

"HOLD IT! Wait until we're outta here first. I don't want to eat anymore sand," Sonic exclaimed. Sonic grabbed Tails's arm and sped off, the note fluttered to the ground next to Conrad foot.

Conrad let his curiosity get the better of him and he read the letter. "Something is very wrong, very wrong indeed," he muttered, before disappearing in another little tornado...

Dun dun dun! XD chapter updates are gonna be slow but I'll be as quick as possible.

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