"I'M HUNGRY ESPIO, PLEASE FEED ME!" Charmy whines, his tiny fingers clutching onto the little spines on my back. I sigh, he has been up to this for a while, and honestly it is starting to get on my nerves. Does he not understand that there is no food in this realm?
"Charmy, there is no food here for you. Food doesn't exist in this world unless you are dead, so I'm guessing that your body is starting to feel hunger and it is reciprocating to your soul." I explain only for Charmy to pause and look at me as though I am the insane one annoying everyone.
I grab Charmy and carry him instead, holding the boy close to my chest as we started feeling an odd pulling sensation. We are getting closer to the portal that will take us to Echidnaopolis up above, or in some cases, Haven.
Honey gasps as she falls to her knees, and I shift Charmy in my arms so that I can try and help her. Charmy gasps as he sees the once beautiful face of Honey now distorted in pain and quickly decaying. I sigh; there must've been a barrier to prevent foreigners and people who weren't supposed to be in the area from intruding on the Echidna's land.
"LOCKE!" I call loudly to the portal, hoping that they would be able to get Honey to a safer place and soon. Of course, there is no reply because well, we aren't far enough into the portal to get the group to help.
"LOCKE!" I call out again, noticing my voice cracking with the new strain being put on it. This cavern was built to weaken enemies to the point in which they can no longer be a threat, and Honey, from what I have gathered so far, is definitely a threat.
"I…I wish…that this wasn't…happening…to us…right now," Honey mutters, tears starting to fall down her cheeks as her stomach starts to contort in pain. Within a moment there is a bright flash of light and everyone is standing in the same place, Honey and Espio were perfectly erect and Charmy was sleeping peacefully against Espio's chest.
Espio raises an eyebrow as he looks over to see Honey who is also looking around in wonder. What had just happened? There wasn't even the pulling sensation bothering her from before, in fact, the puling sensation was gone.
"Locke!" Espio calls out, his voice now slightly softer and losing its worried tone. A soft sound is there reply, and Espio moves Charmy into one arm so that he can grab Honey's arm and drag her along behind him as the two rush in the direction of the noise.
"Locke!" Espio calls out again, his deep voice reverberating throughout the small area. Honey gasps as she stumbles over her own feet in a lousy attempt to keep up with the chameleon.
Now a distinguishable response comes from the general direction that they are coming from. "Espio? Is that you, what are you doing here?" Locke asks as he exits the form of Haven in the Spirit World and walks over to where the man is standing.
"Espio, why are you here? You haven't died, have you?" Locke asks, his eyes locked onto Espio's but then roaming over Charmy and Honey. He smiles; it is kind of nice to have a father figure in your life isn't it.
"No, I'm not dead, I was summoned here, we all were," Espio explains as he shifts the position of Charmy in his arms. Locke nods as he continues to stare at the trio, who oddly enough look like a family. "Anyways, there have been some strange occurrences within the Spirit Trail, have you?" Espio asks as Locke shakes his head.
"Just like on Mobius, Haven is secluded from the rest of the world," Locke explains as he turns, motioning for the group to follow him as he goes deeper into the Spiritual World Haven.
Espio's P.O.V
Okay, let us look at this rationally; everyone that we have visited in this realm so far has been infected with whatever has infected most of the people. However, Locke claims that Haven is separate from everywhere else on this realm, so would it mean that those Demi-Gods weren't allowed in.
I don't believe that it is safe, however, this would be an excellent time to find out what is going on from one of the many pawns within this game.
I nod keeping my face completely impassive as I slowly make my way behind Locke, deeper into the cavern that had magically appeared before my eyes. The longer I stay here the less I trust it; things keep randomly appearing, and quite obviously these people don't know what Haven looks like, but hey neither do I.
"Welcome, it has been a long time since I have seen my son, or even a friend of his. I hope that everything is going well for the other two. Actually who am I kidding, I don't want them to do anything, I want them to be attacked and slowed down, and we need all the power we can get.
"As you notice there aren't too many guardians that have actually died, and most of them are…well, they went somewhere and they haven't returned yet," Locke admits with his head downcast, but I was raised like a true ninja, and I know that the likeliness that he is telling the truth is very low.
"That is disappointing, so, do you have any idea where they have gone, and why you didn't go with them?" I ask, keeping my expression completely neutral, I don't need him finding out that I don't trust him just yet.
"Well, I think they had also noticed these disturbances within the plane, and you know how we are, it seems that many people don't actually understand how this plane actually works, and for that reason they wouldn't know how to fix it. I being the newest one here also am not overly informed as to how this plane works, and for that reason I was told to guard the cave and make sure that no one infected makes their way in," Locke explains and I nod, he has given me a perfectly plausible reason, and if what he says is true, then maybe I can get some much needed information.
"If that is the case, then would you mind explaining to me how it works?" I ask, and shift my eyes around the area, I smirk. As Locke died, so did the Shinobi ninja who was supposed to be watching him. I can literally feel Valdez in this room; in fact, I know exactly where he is. "Oh, and Valdez, the jig is up, you can come out now," I say, looking a tad past Locke to where my old trainer is standing.
Valdez becomes visible causing both Honey and Charmy to blink in surprise; Locke on the other hand gives him a predatorial growl, hissing softly. I notice that both of their eyes glow red for a moment and I sigh, they are both working against us. I would hate to have to kill Valdez again…well not kill, but exterminate.
"Honey, stay behind me, they are dangerous," I murmur into the girl's ear and she nods, stepping a bit so that she is behind me. I then give Charmy to her, making sure not to jostle the boy too much but he seems to have already fallen back asleep.
"So, are you going to explain to me how the Spirit Plane works?" I ask slightly annoyed that they haven't told me anything yet.
"Espio, I'm ashamed, you have the nerve to kill an old friend and you don't even have the audacity to greet them once again," Valdez says, and I shiver. This doesn't sound like my master, but the robot that he became.
"I am here on business, I will use formalities after I am assured that everything else is alright," I explain and Valdez just shakes his head dejectedly. I roll my eyes and then turn my attention back to Locke who is looking at me with narrowed eyes.
"Espio, we echidnas respect our elders, and I am sure as hell that so does the Shinobi. Now, greet Valdez as though he is an old friend," Locke threatens, and I simply roll my eyes.
"Answer the question before I leave, this is a waste of time," I hiss, my eyes narrowing dangerously. Valdez and Locke seem to pause for a moment and they seem to be staring dead at each other, as though they are having a mental conversation, this worries me greatly and I have to take a step back allowing Honey to do so to.
"Fine, do you really want to know how this damned realm works then," Valdez hisses, and suddenly I am gripping Honey's arm with bruising force.
"This place is where you go when it is over, when there is nothing left for you. This is where you go when your life diminishes. It could be heaven, or it could be hell, depending on how you want to look at it. You are forced to look at the faces of those who are long gone, and look upon those of whom you have slaughtered. This is where you pay for your mistakes, or celebrate your good ways of life. You see which way I was subjected to, as will you," Valdez hisses. "We deserve another chance at life, another chance to make things correct, we deserve to be free." Valdez hisses the last word in a way that makes me shiver. I take a step back and stare dead at him, this isn't the man I grew up with, this is a demon.
"Yes, but who is in charge?" I ask, cautiously moving both Honey and myself back a step. I don't like that red glow in both of their eyes, they are hiding something, and I don't trust them one bit.
"The gods, Chaos, Sol, you know who they are. They built this place for the deceased Mobians, they built it as a way of pretending to be alive, but let's face it, they were lazy, and therefore did not recreate everything to the perfect standards. But of course, they tirelessly strive to make the living world and the world for themselves a better place, leaving us with all of the glitches. We need to be freed. Now, if you want to know who rules, well then we have all those elder deputies running around. The Ancient Walkers are somewhere here too, and although they do a lot, they care much more about the mortal world than that of the deceased. There is then this new deity known as the Wishing Queen. There is one that lives with us and one that lives among the humans. Now the one that lives amongst the humans, well we all know who she is, the one amongst us, no one knows, but it seems as though that this other Wishing Queen is trying to take over the Spirit Trail and set the spirits free." Locke explains and I can help but glance back at Honey. She had wished that she was out of pain and it had worked, impressive. Honey clings on to me and I turn back to see Locke and Valdez slowly moving towards us.
"You know, the Wishing Queen can wish for anything reasonable. Wishing for two people that she misses to come back to life is a perfectly feasible wish. So why don't you be a good little girl and wish everyone who you think deserves another chance at life back." Valdez hisses and this is when I grab Honey's arm and start dragging her out of the place. We make our way through the cave until I see the brightness that the sun has to offer. I quickly speed up, almost dragging Honey along behind me.
Once we are outside Honey pants a bit for breath and I frown. True it has been a while since she has been part of the Chaotix, but it hasn't been that long has it?
"Hey, Honey, where is Charmy?" I finally ask taking notice to the fact that the small be is no longer anywhere in sight. The girl looks up at me and I frown.
"He went with them…he said that he believes in their cause," Honey mutters, then shows me a deep indention in her waist, Charmy had stung her.
I take a deep breath and sigh. Charmy is like a little brother to me, and the thought of just not having him there with me is already bothering me. I don't want him mixed up in this stuff, I just want to know that he is safe. "Okay," I finally mutter before starting off in the other direction.
"Honey, where were you born?" I ask looking to the girl.
Author's Notes:
It's been such a long time since I last updated, but have no fear, I am not done with this story, though we are nearing the climax and the ending. Anyways, what else was I going to say, oh yeah, this story should now be my top priority. So, hopefully more updates will be coming up, I really want to get this story done, my mind works quickly, and I am even past most of the stories on my poll.
Anyways, so that poll that was mentioned above please take it, especially if you want me to write more Sonic stories, or even if you are a Yu-Gi-Oh fan. Also, a review could help me update quicker, it gives me hope that people actually care about this story. So please do so.