Chapter 11 - What has been lost

I am officially giving all readers of this story permission to get in line and slap me for taking so long. You know not to trust my deadlines, but I need all four stories (including the revamp of Lost in the Flames) to be done by January. After that, there'll be no more writing until June/July.

I don't know which story will end up being published. I might make a start of a different fandom for a while, but once I start ppublishing, it means the entire story has been written and edited, so that I can stick to my weekly deadline.

Thank you to all of those who have stayed with me so far. It's great support and means a lot :)

"What's taking them so long?" Sonic exclaimed, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"Give them a chance, hon. They're not as fast as you, y'know," Rouge said.
"I know, I know. But sitting here and just waiting is a pain," Sonic moaned in reply.

Just then, Knuckles began to stir. "Aero..."
"Take it easy, Knuckles. She won't be long," Sonic said gently.
"W.. Where... Is... She?" Knuckles managed, his breathing ragged and laboured.
"She's gone with Shadow to get you the cure," Sonic explained, sitting on the edge of the stone slab beside him.

"The... Em... Emerald," Knuckles groaned.
"The Emerald is fine, Knuckles. Amy's keeping an eye on it for you and I haven't touched it," Rouge smiled.
Knuckles smirked, but it was quickly cut off by a wave of pain.
"Get some rest, buddy. It won't be long now," Sonic smiled weakly.
Knuckles managed to nod and then went to sleep.

Sonic turned his attention to Tails. He was facing away from Knuckles and had been for a while.
"You ok, buddy?" he asked.
Tails jumped a little in surprise but he nodded and quickly returned to his own little world.
Sonic sighed and slowly walked over to him.

"Tails?" Sonic persisted gently.
"I'll be ok, Sonic. I guess... I'm just... nervous," Tails admitted.
"It'll be alright. You know it will," Sonic smiled weakly, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Tails, turned around suddenly wrapped his arms around Sonic's waist as he burst into tears.
"Sonic, I'm scared! I've been trying to be brave but I just can't," he sobbed. His emotions had finally burst though.
Tails is right, he really has tried to be tough these last few days, Sonic thought to himself. Sonic sometimes forgot that Tails was only 8 years old. He was practically half Sonic's age. Even though he was so mature, it didn't

"Come on, big guy. You've been brilliant these last few days. I'm really proud of you. Aeronniell and Shadow can do this, no problem. We've just gotta give them a little more time," Sonic smiled in an attempt to comfort him, crouching down to Tails's eye level.
"B..but what if it doesn't go right?" Tails choked. Sonic gently pulled Tails into another hug.
"It will," he whispered into his ear. Tails buried his face into Sonic's chest and tried to gain control of his tears.

Sonic looked at Rouge. She seemed surprised by what had unfolded in front of her but managed to give Sonic a nod. Sonic nodded back with a weak smile.
Sonic closed his eyes and continued to comfort Tails with his hug.

I hope... He thought to himself...

"MARIA?!" Shadow exclaimed, stumbling backwards in shock. Aeronniell also fell backwards as the little girl had materialised out of nowhere. She watched as she struggled to retain her visibility. It was Maria alright, but the sight killed Shadow on the inside... She was a ghost.

"Shadow, please help me. You can bring me back to life. I want to see what Mobius is like. All you have to do is give me a drop of your blood," the spirit begged in a sweet voice. A look of what seemed to be pure delight flashed across Shadow's face, but it quickly faded.

"That means I can't save Knuckles if I do, doesn't it?"
The spirit nodded with a blank face. She had beautiful short blond hair with stunning blue eyes, which matched the blue dress she wore. At times, you could hardly see her as she swayed in a breeze. The firelight shining half reflecting off her face and half passing through. It made her face look cruel and dark.

"Maria, I... I don't... Knuckles is," Shadow stammered, unable to form a sentence.
"Shadow, don't listen to her. Remember, these are tests. She isn't really there," Aeronniell explained calmly, shaking his shoulder to try and get him out of his trance.
"But, Aeronniell, what about me?" an even softer voice squeaked.

Aeronniell turned around to see a hedgehog similar to her, only a little more lilac. She wore a little gray dress and had beautiful green eyes.
"Lilly," Aeronniell breathed.
"Aero, please. I wanna see Stephenson and mama again!" the spirit begged, wearing her little grey dress.

"N..no. No this can't be right. Lilly, even if this is your spirit, I have to save Knuckles... If there's a way to save you I will but I can't. Not yet," Aeronniell explained, fighting back tears.
"YOU NEVER HAD TIME FOR ME!" the spirit of Lilly screamed. "YOU WERE WILLING TO CUT OFF YOUR HAND FOR THAT STUPID ECHIDNA! But you won't give a drop of blood for me!"
Aeronniell tried to snap out of her trance like state. Lilly wouldn't say something like that, would she?

"Shadow, please. I want to be able to see what the ocean looks like. I want to be able to touch the grass and know what wind is," Maria continued to beg.
Aeronniell and Shadow had instinctively stood back to back but the two spirits' pleas were agony to their ears.
Over and over the spirits begged to be revived.
Aeronniell eventually crumpled to the floor, covering her ears and screaming so that she couldn't hear the spirit's demands.
"Aero?!" Shadow managed.

Sonic heard a scream, a petrified scream. He knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Aero! Alright, that's it. I'm going in!" Sonic announced as soon as he heard the screams from inside the temple. The door had locked after the two went in; it was impossible to enter the Temple.

"Is he allowed to do that?" Rouge asked.
"No, Their wishes are strong. It will be hard for them to resist but you must not get involved in the test," Diana explained.
"What do you mean 'resist'? What are they doing?" Sonic asked, drawing to a halt.
"They have to resist their greatest wish. If they cannot, your friend will fall," Carlos said.
"That's evil! What's going on in there?!" Sonic exclaimed.

A large amount of dust began to gather together, creating a mirror showing what was happening inside.

All Sonic could hear was screaming and arguing, but it wasn't just Shadow and Aeronniell. Other voices could be heard. He finally saw Aeronniell curled up on the floor, shouting, whimpering and mumbling to herself as a kind of ghost moved around her in circles. Shadow was stepping away from a spirit that Sonic recognised as Maria.
He knew Maria was Dr Eggman's cousin. She had died upon the Ark when G.U.N had tried to destroy all evidence of 'Project Shadow'. The only thing that remained of the project was Shadow the Hedgehog. The Ultimate Lifeform.

This isn't right. What they're asking for- what they have to resist... That's not right!

"Please, Aeronniell. Take my hand and you can save me. You won't have to feel guilty over me anymore. Just take my hand...please," Lilly begged, tears filling in her eyes.
Aeronniell suddenly stopped screaming and yelling and looked up. Her eyes were wide, like she had been hypnotised.
"You're right, Lilly. I should have helped you a..and I tried," she murmured, slowly reaching out for Lilly's outstretched hand.

"AERONNIELL, STOP!" Shadow bellowed over the noise. He fell against the wall and covered his ears. The spirit of Maria just floated towards him and continued to beg. Aeronniell was no longer speaking to herself in an attempt to snap herself out of it, but staring at the spirit of Lilly. She seemed to be in a trance of some sort.

Shadow ran forth and went through Maria. He stood between Aeronniell and Lilly. Could Lilly just pass through him as he had passed through Maria?
"No! I have to help Lilly. I have a chance to save her," Aeronniell exclaimed, try to move Shadow out of the way.

"Aeronniell, take her hand and Knuckles will die," Shadow explained. "Would Lilly really want you to lose him? You said it yourself, this is a test, you have to say no."
An entranced Aeronniell took advantage of Shadow turning away to see where Maria was, and shoved him away with all of her strength. Shadow fell against the wall. Maria was instantly at his side begging for life.

"Maria, I said no!" Shadow yelled. It was killing him to have to yell at her. A crystal altar suddenly materialised in the center of the room. Somehow, Shadow knew that to end this they had to touch the altar. He didn't know how he knew... He just did. Staggering towards it, he felt like a weight was tied to his heart.
"Forgive me," he whispered, watching Marias spirit blend into the air and fade away with an unearthly scream.

"Aeronniell, listen to me. Knuckles will die if you do this, this isn't Lilly. Please don't do this!" Shadow begged. "Touch the altar!"
"I have to, Shadow. I had to watch her die and I did nothing. I can save her. I. can make this right," Aeronniell protested.
"That's exactly right!" Lilly snapped. "Now, take my hand!"
"Aeronniell, Would Lilly act like this? Would Lilly demand that you kill him? Aeronniell you love him! Would Lilly want you to feel the same way as Stephenson feels?" Shadow questioned, calling upon everything Aeronniell had told him.

A silence had filled the room for what felt like hours. Stephenson had suffered so much. Aeronniell couldn't take that amount of suffering, neither could Knuckles's friends. Aeronniell slowly looked at Lilly. "Shadow's right. I did try to save you, and I should have tried harder...I've got a chance to set things right... But I can't let Knuckles die."
"What?!" Lilly demanded.
"I'm so sorry, Lilly." Aeronniell reached out for the altar and let her hand fall onto the crystal.
The spirit of Lilly screamed in anger as she dissolved into mist.

Aeronniell slowly got to her feet. She was trembling and tears were falling down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she choked.
"Don't be," a gentle voice said.

"Lilly, I've already said no. Please don't make this any harder," Aeronniell demanded weakly, turning around to see her little sister's spirit once more.
"What? Oh, no I'm not here for that. That was a pretend me," Lilly giggled, covering her mouth to hide that beautiful smile. It killed Aeronniell to be unable to see it.
"Oh," Aeronniell said glumly, still keeping her barriers up.

"Aeronniell, please don't be upset about what happened. I was never mad at you. You're the best sister ever and I'm super excited for you," she smiled.
Aeronniell looked up and swallowed hard.
"You are?" she asked weakly.
Lilly nodded with a grin.

"Lilly, I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?!"
"There's nothing to be sorry about. But if you see that big bully again who got me, ask Karn to beat him up for me."
Aeronniell smiled and choked back a sob. "I will, I promise... We'll both get him."

Lilly smiled and giggled as she disappeared. It felt like she took part of Aeronniell with her. Nothing had ever drained Aeronniell as much as that had. Not even restraining Sonic when he was possessed by Oblivion.
Aeronniell inhaled deeply and turned to see Maria shifting away from Shadow, slowly dispersing.

And just like that the room was filled with a dreadful silence, as the two reflected on the last few minutes.
"We should go," Shadow said, unsure of what to say. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know, but either way, we have to move. Come on."

Aeronniell pushed past the surprisingly relieving heartache and headed towards the next room...

So, 2/5 tests done. This is about as intense as it will get, so if anyone struggled with this chapter, it's not so bad after this. Fear not. I have one more week of trial exams, then three more weeks at school, then it's happy holidays XD This is where I go on a writing mission. If I start taking to long, just start annoying me on PM. Sometimes I just completely forget about my stories ^^'

Please review and let me know how I'm doing, it makes me happy XD