Chapter 4 - Rising Storm
"I don't get it Aeronniell. How do you know so much about Oblivion and the Gem of Greed?" Sonic asked.
"Oblivion is our sworn enemy. He attacks our forest when we are weak or running low on supplies. Some people say he hates the Ancient Ones because he was exiled. Others claim he was Abyss's son but he isn't," Aeronniell explained.
"Oh... Who's Abyss again?" Sonic asked.
Aeronniell sighed. "I'm gonna have to teach you their names... Abyss is the Ancient One who controls darkness."
Aeronniell, Sonic and Tails were on their way towards the Main Temple to collect Knuckles. The weather was beginning to turn bad again and it began to drizzle with rain. Suddenly, a blinding flash of fork lightning illuminated the ground, followed by thunder rolling over the sky.
Tails dived onto Sonic's shoulders. "AAAHHH! IM AFRAID OF LIGHTNING!" he exclaimed.
"You're ok buddy," Sonic reassured him, as he tried to prise Tails off his back. Sonic looked to a very startled Aeronniell for help. Aeronniell smiled, lifted Tails off Sonic's shoulders and put him back on the ground.
"Don't worry, Tails," Aeronniell smiled. "Blizzard! Could you call off the thunder and lighting, please?" she called.
A grey hedgehog ran over to Aeronniell. "I'm sorry Aero, I can't control it. Misty is making the storm," Blizzard explained. Aeronniell nodded and smiled.
"Oh, don't worry about it then. To be honest I can't blame her for being like this," she said, looking up at the sky for a moment. Blizzard nodded and hurried off to get shelter.
"Who's Misty?" Sonic asked.
"The Ancient One who controls the weather. Judging by the weather, she's frustrated," Aeronniell explained.
"I wouldn't like to see her when she's angry," Sonic muttered.
"No, you wouldn't. That's when you get tornadoes and floods," Aeronniell said.
Just then, Blizzard appeared with an umbrella and passed it to Aeronniell before running off. "Thanks, Blizzard!" Aeronniell called. " So... what are we going to do after we take Knuckles back to your house?" Sonic asked.
"Well, I think we should go to Station Square Library," Aeronniell said. "Hopefully, we'll find something there," she added.
A few minutes later, Sonic and the others had reached the Temple of the Ancient Ones. "Wait here, I'll get Knuckles," Aeronniell instructed. Sonic opened his mouth to protest but Aeronniell stopped him.
"The Ancient Ones aren't too keen on people who can't control the elements. They only offered to save Knuckles because he needed help and because Aqua, the Ancient One who controls water, managed to persuade the other seven. Let's not take advantage of that," Aeronniell explained.
"Fair point, but why do they not like 'Non-Elementals'?" Sonic asked.
"Something to do with an attack many years ago, I'm not entirely sure. So please wait here, I'll be as quick as I can," Aeronniell explained, before quietly walking inside..
The temple was like something from Ancient Greece, thirty-six marble pillars supported an enormous roof, for safety reasons the roof was made of wood, but it was covered in a layer of marble. The temple had a small stair case that led down to a sort of basement.
Aeronniell went down the stairs and stood in front of the wooden door, that led to where Knuckles was resting. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, the little thuds echoing around the room, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Come on in, Aeronniell," a loud and deep voice said, which Aeronniell recognised as Abyss the wolf, the Ancient One who controlled the shadows and darkness. She quietly entered.
Inside, the walls were made of normal sandstone. An enormous battle scene had been carved into the walls but Aeronniell's attention went straight to Knuckles. Knuckles was lying on a huge slab of rock with Ancient inscriptions and little diagrams carved into it. His breathing was even quicker and his breaths were laboured but what worried Aeronniell was his fever, even from the doorway she could tell he was burning up.
The burning torches that were fixed to walls lit the little room, but the flames seemed to be drawn to Smoulder the Phoenix, the Ancient One who controlled fire. Smoulder and the others had backed away from Knuckles so Aeronniell could go over to him.
"How is he?" she asked quietly, crouching down beside him.
"He is worsening, rapidly," Abyss the wolf reported. Aeronniell sighed in disappointment and looked down towards the ground.
"Take him back to your house, spend what time you have left with him," Rubble said gravely.
"Rubble!" Aqua gasped, shocked at what he had said. Rubble said nothing. That's the thing with the earth beneath your feet, it's tough and it isn't very careful when dealing with delicate matters.
Still, those words had hit Aeronniell right in the heart. It felt like someone had ripped it out of her chest and squeezed it to a pulp. Don't think like that, she thought in protest. You WILL find the Fireflower and Knuckles WILL be alright.
Aeronniell silently scooped Knuckles up. He began to stir but he didn't wake up. His temperature had risen to an unbearable degree and yet he acted like he was cold. "He really has gotten worse, hasn't he?" Aeronniell sadly remarked. Aqua put her hand on Aeronniell's shoulder but said nothing. Aeronniell just moved out of Aqua's grip and quickly left..
Aeronniell met Sonic and Tails outside. "Wow, did Sonic actually do as he was told? You feeling alright?" Aeronniell joked. Sonic smirked, but it quickly faded when he realised Knuckles was shivering.
"Knuckles?" He whispered. Aeronniell looked down at Knuckles with concern.
"Come on, we need to hurry before he gets cold," Aeronniell said miserably, as she suddenly hurried along.
Sonic couldn't help but notice at how upset Aeronniell was, she looked dizzy and sick from worry. It was causing her footing to be a little weak and clumsy. "Aeronniell, hold up. I'll get Knuckles," Sonic called. Aeronniell stopped and nodded, before carefully passing Knuckles to Sonic.
Sonic carried Knuckles back to Aeronniell's house. Knuckles's temperature had continued to rise, as did the shivering. "I don't get it, how can he be feeling cold if he's getting warmer and warmer?" Sonic muttered, almost in annoyance, as he put Knuckles onto the bed and pulled the blankets up to his chest.
"That's what the curse does Sonic, it makes them have un- treatable symptoms. Knuckles's body will turn against itself. Then it's up to his mind and spirit to keep him alive," Aeronniell explained.
"How do you know that?" Sonic asked.
"Lilly..." Aeronniell muttered.
"Huh?" Sonic and Tails said at the same time.
"Nothing, it's just that lots of people have been cursed," Aeronniell said quickly. Sonic wasn't so sure. "Come on, I'll make you guys something to eat," she offered, changing the subject.
Sonic, Tails and Aeronniell went into the living room, where Rouge was asleep but Shadow had also fallen asleep on the armchair. "Rouge, Rouge wake up," Aeronniell said, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Huh, I'm up, I'm up," Rouge mumbled rubbing the sleep out her eyes.
"Do you want something to eat? " Aeronniell asked. Rouge shook her head. "You haven't eaten anything for two days, are you sure you don't want anything?" she persisted.
Rouge thought for a moment. "Do you have any soup?" she asked with a groan. Aeronniell nodded quickly.
"Vegetable soup ok with everyone?" Aeronniell asked. Everyone said yes, except Shadow who was still asleep. Aeronniell guessed he had just came back from a mission and hadn't had much sleep, so she left him to rest for a while longer.
Aeronniell quickly began to prepare the vegetables in the kitchen, and she soon had the soup in six big bowls and was passing them to everyone. She also woke up Shadow and gave him his soup (something Sonic wouldn't even dream of) .
"Wow Aero, this is great," Sonic exclaimed quietly as he ate.
"I'm glad you think so," she smiled.
Everyone ate in silence. No- one was particularly hungry, yet they still ate. Sonic tried to bring up a conversation. "So, does anyone actually know anything about the Fireflower?" he asked. Tails picked up his handheld and clicked a few buttons.
"Even my handheld doesn't say much, only that it can heal everything. It mentions something about a hidden temple- " Tails said.
"Does it say what Temple?" Aeronniell asked. Tails shook his head and looked down.
"Dang!" Aeronniell muttered, before sighing. "I'm gonna go and give this to Knuckles," she muttered, picking up the extra bowl of soup. Aeronniell was really losing her faith in the Fireflower. Aeronniell swiftly headed to the spare room, like a little wave on the shore..
TAH DAH, sorry for the wait but I've been a busy bee. I've got a few days left of the holidays so I got this chapter out there for all to see. In theory, my next chapter is gonna be better than this.
A Big thank you to my BETA, ShinyShiny9.
I also want to thank Zgirl101 for the really nice review on Chapter 2. You have no idea at how excited I got at finding out you liked my OC XD
Please review and have a great day ^-^