Hello! It's about time I did a update for this story! I've got reviews so let's get those out of the way now!

Obliviblur: The Crystal's consciousness being transferred to Shadow does give him some unique circumstances! You'll have to read to see how it pans out however!

Let's get going!

Sonic Boom: The Ancients

Clearing

Ruby wasn't sure what to make of Shadow, it was obvious that he was housing the Crystal's consciousness in some way, but whether that was a good or bad thing was up to debate. Especially considering he was made from a combination of all of their DNA, how Rose and Bolt had managed to figure that out still puzzled him.

However, he did acknowledge that there was at least one positive in the whole situation. And that was Shadow was more than likely going to be a great help against Lyric once he grew up. From the preliminary medical scans that Rose had done, she had concluded that Shadow actually grew and matured faster than any other Mobian they had ever seen. It fascinated her.

She continued to puzzle over the information she had gathered until Blues stepped into the workshop. "Hey Rose, you got anything new?"

"Not really, I mean… There's still tons to work with here though…"

"You'll get through it! I was just wondering if I could take Shadow out, show him around you know!"

"I guess that'd be fine, just make sure you keep an eye on him."

Blues nodded and beckoned to the ebony hedgehog, whom followed him out of the room. The speedster lead him around the temple grounds, showing off many of it's small nuances. Until eventually, Shadow asked a certain question.

"So where did all of you come from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, who were you guys before you started all this? What did you do?"

Blues thought over the question for a bit, "Well, I suppose you deserve an explanation." They both sat down on a small outcropping of the temple that overlooked the entrance.

"Ruby's been doing this thing the longest, the Primal Crystal is apparently something he's been tasked with guarding since birth. We think his parents might have been some of the past Ancients but we're not sure… His family kind of disappeared one day, and they never came back. He eventually met Rose and her family and was just kind of taken in by them. They became sort of siblings I guess…"

"What's her family like?"

"Rose's dad is actually mayor of a small village around here, so she goes to visit him quite a bit. Her mom lives with him. They're not exactly thrilled with their daughter putting her life in danger as much as she does, but they understand why she does it. As I already mentioned, she and Ruby lived together for a while before we started doing this whole thing."

"Speaking of which, how did you all get chosen? How did you know?"

"We didn't, not for a while at least. The Crystal chose us, eventually, each in our own ways we discovered this place. What makes it even more odd, is that it somehow feels familiar, even if it's the first time we've seen it." Blues explained.

"I guess that makes sense, so what about Bolt?"

The azure hedgehog sighed, "Bolt doesn't like to talk about his past, it triggers some horrific memories in him about something… So we don't really know, what I do know is that I found in in the forest, crying for help with a massive bloody gash on his side. He doesn't ever talk about what happened or how he got there, I discovered he had a knack for inventing and machines. I felt bad for him because he reminded me of myself, so I took him in."

"So where does that put you?"

"I didn't know my family, I lived on my own, stealing and doing whatever I had to live. I'm not proud of some of the things I did. But I didn't have a choice… My speed helped, it's a talent I've always had. But once I met Bolt, I tried to clean up a bit."

"You were a thief?" Shadow asked.

"Mainly, I did really whatever I had to. I wasn't just going to let myself and Bolt starve. I did get into my fair share of trouble but I've cleaned it up now."

Silence followed for a minute until Shadow asked the one question Blues had been dreading, "What about Lyric?"

Blues wasn't sure how to answer, but eventually decided that the truth would have to come out eventually. "Lyric was, abused, when he was younger. He became an Ancient after most of us, but he harbored a hatred and contempt for all Mobian life that had mistreated him. When he got his hands on the Primal Crystal, it… Fascinated him… Eventually changing his demeanor almost entirely, he became aggressive to everyone. By the time we realized what was happening, it was already too late…"

"Crystal Sickness?"

"Yeah…"

"What is it exactly?"

"The Crystal corrupted Lyric's mind and mutated his body, his contempt toward those that had hurt him turned into a burning hatred against all Mobian life. We tried to stop him, but one on one we stood no chance of overpowering the Crystal's energy. Even with all of us we weren't able to beat him, just contain him. He'll break free one day, and we'll need to be ready when he does…"

"So that's why you made me?"

"We think the Crystal gave you to us because you're the closest to Lyric's corrupted cells. You're made from the Primal Crystal itself. Hopefully we'll be able to use your make up and what we already know to finally cure Lyric and put an end to all this."

Shadow nodded, "So, are we even close?"

"We're not sure, we think we have something that could potentially work, but none of us are for certain, and the only way to test it would be to use it…"

"But you're not sure if it'll work."

"Exactly, we've held off for now, until one of us can perfect the formula, we're working all the time on it."

"Is there anyway I could help? Shadow asked.

"You've done enough by just existing, but if you really want to, I'm sure we could find you something!"

Shadow nodded and the two returned to the main level. Now with some confusion removed and cleared, they could continued their work, and one could only hope it would be enough…

Alright everyone, short chapter today for this fic, but I promise the next one will be normal length, just trying to get back into updating this story for the time being! I hope you all enjoyed!