Author's Notes:
So…why this chapter took so long to come out. It was completed during the summer, but my editor has school. So, then in fall, she edited the next chapter to this first. Oh well, it is here, and edited, as is the next chapter…so enjoy.
"Good morning," said a smooth, calm voice. It almost felt like she was alive again, like she wasn't someone waiting for salvation, for that final day when she will die and will be welcomed to the After Life with all those who loved her and the family that she had never really gotten to know.
The girl keeps her eyes closed, wondering how the person above her would know that she was awake. Was this supposed to be Espio's voice, and if it was, why was he so calm? He had never sounded like that before. This familiar voice was attractive to her for some reason. Where had she heard it before, and why exactly couldn't she place it?
Slowly, the girl opens her deep ocean orbs, and immediately, she comes face to face with familiar light aqua ones. Realizing their proximity, the girl blushes at the armadillo. She feels a connection with him, but they still barely know each other.
"Where am I?" The lynx finally asks, looking around the meadow. Luscious grass sways gently in the wind, a small imprint remaining from where the girl had been resting only moments ago.
"What? You don't know?" The armadillo asks, a small smile forming on his face. The girl frowns slightly as she looks around and notices a little cottage off in the distance. Slowly, she forces her way to her feet and stands next to the armadillo, who wraps an arm around her and pulls the girl to his side.
"Don't you remember the Mercian countryside? We grew up here, together. We would always play and spend time together. Please don't tell me that you have forgotten me!" The armadillo whines, moving the girl so that she is facing him.
The girl is met with aqua eyes now brimming with tears. What was going on? How had she gotten here? The last thing that she remembered was simply sitting there with Espio. No, they had been walking, searching for something.
Her home.
That was what they were looking for, and she had found it. Where was Espio though? Where had he gone? Why was she with him, here, now?
"You don't, do you? It's a shame; we had so much fun here as children, and now, now you have forgotten! Did you forget me too?" The armadillo asks, and the girl frowns. She knew this person but, when, where?
"No," the girl lies, and this time, the armadillo smiles and throws his arms around the girl.
"Good, now let's go inside. I want you to meet my friends. Oh, I know that you will just love them." The armadillo states, dragging the heavenly lynx behind him into the cream colored shack.
Once the two are within the small shack, the door is slammed shut, and the girl is pinned to the wall. "I know you forgot me. But it's okay, I'll remind you." He whispers, leaning in and claiming the girl's lips as his own.
At first, the lynx tries to push the male off of her. But after the teen refuses to budge the girl gives in to the temptation and accepts the kiss. Her frail hands are delicately placed on his shoulders, pulling the armadillo in to deepen the kiss as he pulls her forward, neither aware of the shifting shadows behind the two.
After a moment or so, the armadillo pulls away from the kiss with a long trail of saliva connecting their lips, leaving each one with the temptation to rejoin their lips in the union that they had once held.
"Do you remember me now?" The armadillo asks, his cerulean eyes sparkling in the lack of natural and artificial lighting. Honey blushes as she stares back at the person who had stolen her first kiss.
"No," the girl mutters, and this time, the armadillo simply shrugs as he steps back and makes his way over to the small set of sofas in the corner of the little hut.
The little sofa is a pallid blue color, contrasting with the forest green rug, and the soft pink walls. The air itself smells of dirt and mildew, alerting her to the fact that the house hasn't been cleaned in years.
The armadillo smiles as he pats the seat next to him, inviting the girl to take the seat. Honey slowly makes her way onto the seat and the armadillo smirks attractively as he leans in and captures the girl's lips in another heated kiss.
This kiss continues longer than the last one, with the armadillo even going as far as pinning the girl to the sofa, while continuing to make out with the lynx. "You don't have to remember me in order to feel this way. It's like there is some sort of connection between us drawing us together. Can't you feel it?" The armadillo asks, gently nibbling on the girl's ear.
Honey continues to flush, gently trying to shove the armadillo off of her. "I-I don't know. Please stop." The girl mutters, finally managing to push the armadillo off her. The armadillo frowns as he looks down at his angel and strokes one of her delicate wings.
"You really don't remember me…" The armadillo mutters softly, and the girl shakes her head fiercely. Had she not made that clear the million other times that he had asked?
"Can you tell me your name?" Honey asks innocently. At that exact moment, the armadillo's eyes turn a searing red. The redness only lasts for a moment before the eyes return to their normal blue. However, this moment doesn't go unnoticed by Honey, and she is left floundering over what had just transpired.
"I don't see how that will help," the armadillo says, and Honey cocks her head at an angle, looking at the armadillo with large navy eyes.
"Well, maybe your name will jog my memory." The girl explains, and for a moment, the armadillo is silent.
"Mighty," the armadillo mutters, just loud enough for the girl to hear it, and then silence reigns.
~.~
"Hi, Mighty, how are you today?" A small girl greets with a smile as she hops towards the armadillo before her. The armadillo smiles at her as he makes his way towards the lynx and pulls her into a deep hug.
"How are your parents?" Mighty asks as he enters into the small shack and takes a seat on the plush blue couch. The girl frowns, and for a moment, completely ignores the armadillo pup. Instead, she chooses to stare out the window and at the bright blue sky with little puffs of clouds floating around in the sky.
"They were captured." The girl finally mutters, not even turning to look at the armadillo.
~.~
"Honey?" The girl turns and looks back at the armadillo. They are older now, and he looks terrified, staring at the girl's back.
Small wings protrude from the girl's back. They are white with an intricate design resembles lace.
"I'm an angel, or at least half angel." The girl mutters softly, not daring to look back at her longtime friend.
Strong arms wrap around her waist, and something presses flat against her back, causing the girl to wince. "They're sensitive." The girl mutters, still refusing to turn to look at the armadillo.
The grip around her waist loosens and she is quickly spun around to stare at her longtime friend. Within a moment, their lips are pressed up against each other, and the girl is aware of fingers stroking her hair.
"It's okay; I promise you that no one will hurt you." Mighty mutters, kissing the girl once more on the forehead before pulling him towards the small hut where they reside.
~.~
"Honey, RUN!" The command is yelled across the meadow as the armadillo throws various trees and large pieces of wood at the incoming robots. The girl nods, taking off into the woods nearby, leaving her only friend to fend off the onslaught of monsters.
Mighty sighs, staring ahead at the swatbots that are quickly making their way over to him. "This is for you, Ray," the armadillo states, reminiscing on the one time he had met the timid squirrel.
"Put your hands up and come with us cleanly," the robot declares, and Mighty sighs once more before following the robots.
~.~
She had failed. She knew that with absolute certainty as she walked towards Robotnik, chains hanging from her arms to restrict any arm movement.
The room was bright when she entered. Lights coming from all directions and hit her square in the face. The girl winces, not used to the harsh artificial lighting striking her down. But of course, everything was artificial now. Realizing that this would be her final stand caused a determined frown to cross Honey's features. She would definitely make it something for them to remember. But of course, she could have never anticipated just how strong she was. Neither had they.
~.~
"Prepare the roboticizer," Robotnik calls out to two of his swatbots. The swatbots nod before disappearing behind the large machine standing in the center of the room.
Honey cringes at the sight of the roboticizer. It is a large, cylinder, glass tube. The top and bottom, of the cylinder is made of metal with various tubes exiting the metal protectors and leading to Chaos knows where.
Lights start flashing all around the room, dizzying the young lynx. She tries to lift her hands to her head to steady all the swirling around her, but she couldn't. It hurts; it hurts too much.
A low gasp suddenly fills the room; however, by then, the girl had already fallen onto the ground, unconscious.
~.~
It's dark, dank, quiet, cold, and lonely. It is really cold.
Honey wraps her arms tightly around her waist. Looking quickly from side to side, the girl realizes that she is in a metal cell. Everything is made out of metal, except the door, which is made of some form of transparent plexiglass.
The small lynx winces, and the small wings on her back flaps like crazy. She is scared. Where is she? What happened to her? Isn't she supposed to be a robot by now?
Footsteps can be heard, slow, deliberate, heavy, and making their way towards her. The lynx looks back at the metal backing, before slowly turning and looking through the plexiglass to see a rotund figure march out before her.
Robotnik.
The person who had ruined her life, and the life of the most important person in her life.
"Honey the Cat. We seem to have come across an issue, and I simply can't allow issues like you to live." Eggman hisses, looking impassively at the girl.
"What?" Honey murmurs, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees in despair. The girl then rests her head on her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Honey, you seem to be immune to my roboticizer, because you are an interplanar being. Technically, you should not exist; it is not only impossible for you, but impossible for both of our planes to handle. So, let me do everyone a good thing and terminate you." Robotnik hisses, his red eyes glowing in the darkness.
It feels as though the girl is staring at a demon from the lower plane. The plane of forgotten souls, where only the dirtiest and most foul creatures can survive.
A soft mewl escapes Honey's lips as the plump man starts to waddle away, leaving the girl to her own thoughts. When had everything gone wrong? Why is she here? Would she ever survive?
~.~
"Honey, oh my gosh, you're awake!" It's the armadillo again, and his arms are wrapped tightly around my waist. I look around the small cottage and sigh; I don't any of the people here, well, except for the armadillo, but, that is a mystery.
"What happened?" The girl asks, wrapping her arms around her longtime friend and digging her head into the small niche between his head and body.
"We found you beaten and bloodied on the ocean floor." Mighty whispers, running his fingers through her long, black hair. She needs to have her hair cut; it has grown way too long in the time she has been gone.
"Oh," The word is more of a gasp than anything else. She really didn't know what to say. Sure, the common 'Thank you' would probably be warranted; however, there was also the part of her that knew that a simple thank you would never cover all that the armadillo had done for her.
"It's okay. So, how would you feel about joining the Chaotix?" Mighty asks. Why are they dropping such a momentous decision on her so suddenly? She can barely breath; how can she keep pace with her life when it's going so quickly?
"Sure."
~.~
She is completely sick of it: sick of Charmy and Saffron's hyper activeness, of Vector's loudness, Knuckle's and Julie-Su's fights, Ray's irritating stuttering, Espio's annoying silence, and Mighty, who's completely ignoring her. She wanted out; she wanted to leave here and never return. However, by now, Mighty is more like a silent dictator than anything. She is never allowed out of his sight for long, and he keeps checking up on her, especially during private moments. Moreover they always fought.
"Mighty, we need to talk." Her voice is stern, her dark blue eyes darkening to almost black in that response to her mood. Mighty looks at Honey, his shining, sky blue eyes showing his confusion for a single moment.
"Okay," Mighty replies after a moment. As he gets up, both Espio and Knuckles give their friend an appreciative wolf whistle. Both the armadillo and the lynx shoot the guys a glare. Sometimes, it is hard to believe that Espio too had a crush on her.
The two leave the cottage and make their way to the wood bordering their little adobe. Something had changed the moment the two made it there. Why does she suddenly feel so cold, so distant, yet so lighthearted, so happy?
"What's wrong?" He asks, light blue eyes staring straight into ocean blue ones. The colors of their eyes seem to represent their emotional connection, far apart, on different sides of the blue spectrum. One is drowning in her own made up fears, while the other is flying, soaring away.
It should be the opposite way.
She is the one with wings. With angel wings. There is a reason that Robotnik, or is he Eggman now, fears her. But of course, she is the one drowning.
"I can't do this anymore." It starts out as a typical couple fight.
"Do what anymore?" However, this one isn't feigning cluelessness or innocence; he's blunt and to the point.
"Sit here and pretend everything is okay, when I know that there is something going on, something wrong here." There is always something wrong, take notice to how she dances around the subject. They always dance, because they themselves don't know what's wrong.
"What's wrong?" Oh, it is time to confront the issue at hand. But, what is the issue here?
"Me, there is something wrong with me. I don't belong here." Maybe this fight will be different.
"Why don't you belong here? Is it because you are half angel?" Maybe.
"When Eggman finds me, I'm screwed." Or should she still call him Robotnik?
"Mighty, I need to go. What if I hurt you?" She could never do that, but what if?
"You can't," Even he knows that.
"Look, Mighty, you're a great person, but sometimes, I wish that I had never met you." The mistake.
"Why?" It's a simple question, and who knows, they might just have enough time for an answer.
"So that I'd never fall-" And that was it. She was gone, in a new life, in a new time, where the words that she uttered were foreign to herself and others. Her lies no longer taint her mind or the minds of others; it turned into a concealing fog. But, this fog only lasts as far as the mortal plane.
~.~
"Mighty!"
But it is too late. He has caught her, he has gotten everyone, and it is time for their boss battle.
But what is she supposed to do? She loves him, but she can't, not with the demon inside him.
But, why can't she?
Author's Notes:
So, next chapter comes out next week, or the week after, depends on my mood…and your replies.