About a day had passed since Sonic had unleashed an attack on his loved ones. By this point, Silver and Amy were back from the hospital, but Sonic still hadn't woken up. It was at this point that Shadow feared that his Chaos Spear had been too powerful, even though he was sure that it wasn't.
Now, the oldest and the youngest brothers were sitting by the middle brother's bed, staring at him. Silver now bore finger-shaped bruises along his neck, and his voice was very hoarse whenever he talked.
Over the days, Sonic's condition had gotten worse. The bleeding from his ears hadn't stopped, and the blood was turning slightly darker, almost black. It also started to flow quicker, staining and soaking through the towels Amy had put under his head.
"I hate seeing him like this," Silver croaked, and then immediately put a hand on his throat. Shadow looked sideways at him for one second before turning back to staring at the blue hedgehog.
Amy walked in with fresh towels for Sonic and some food for the boys. She efficiently changed the soiled towels for the clean ones and handed the plates of food to Shadow and Silver. "How is he?"
"Getting worse," Shadow replied, barely touching the food, like Silver. Amy shook her head, fresh tears springing into her eyes, before leaving to go back to running her restaurant.
Silver shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Shads, I know you hate talking about this, but–"
Shadow interrupted him. "Yes, those eyes are the exact same color as when I was controlled by someone else those numerous times. Heary, Eggman, Black Doom…dang it, I was very susceptible to mind control back then, wasn't I?"
Silver scooted the chair closer. "And you came back stronger each time. But this just proves that Sonic is being controlled by someone who clearly wants us dead. But…who?"
Shadow pondered. "It obviously isn't Heary, he's dead and he could only control me…Black Doom is also dead…and we haven't heard from Eggman in months. It could be another enemy of ours."
"Who knows us so well? That doesn't make sense."
The two sat in silence for a while, the gears in their brains turning over and over. However, that silence was broken by a piercing wail.
The two leapt to their feet. Silver's psychokinesis was surrounding him, and Shadow had Chaos Spears in his hands. But, the sound wasn't coming from outside.
It was coming from inside.
The two spun around, back to Sonic. He was convulsing in his bed, letting out an agonizing scream of pain. His eyes were still shut, so it was obvious he was still unconscious. But, it didn't stop the streams of blood from pouring from them.
Shadow and Silver immediately let their defenses dissolve and they raced over to the bed to peer at Sonic, who had finally stopped yelling. But the blood continued to flow out of every possible place: eyes, nose, ears, hands, and feet.
"Sweet Mobius," Silver gasped. "What's happening to him?!"
Shadow didn't say anything, but bent down to study Sonic. After a few minutes of Silver anxiously waiting for a reply, Shadow pulled up.
"This is the controller's last straw. They are causing Sonic to bleed like this. In a few hours, he will surely be dead."
Silver gaped at Shadow for a second. "What do we do?!"
Shadow turned away, trying not to let Silver see his shaking body. "We need something that will both heal Sonic and break the enemy's control on him."
Silver thought in a panic before something came to him. "Oh! What about that place we went to three months ago to find answers on how to defeat those evil vampires? Do you remember what that was?"
"The Perdurable Library," Shadow whispered. He looked at Silver. "If anything has the answers to this, it's that cursed library. We need to go."
"Do you remember where it is?"
"Yes, fortunately for us. We need to leave immediately."
The two sped off, leaving Sonic behind, his minutes fading away.
About 30 minutes later, the two brothers arrived at the library and looked up at it. It was cleverly disguised as crumbling ruins using ancient Ixis magic. The two looked at each other, nodded, and raced inside.
Once inside, the interior immediately changed. There were rows upon rows of faded books, the shelves towering high above their heads. There were a few people milling about, looking at the books. There was no noise in this library, only silence.
Silver tried to say something, but no sound came out. He looked at Shadow, who shook his head, just as silent as he was.
This was why the library was cursed. No sound whatsoever was permitted, even voices.
The two split up to search for the book they needed. The answer they were seeking was probably in the same book they used last time to defeat the same vampires that had changed Sonic. And, fortunately for them, they knew exactly where it was.
Shadow reached the shelf containing the book first and used his rocket shoes to hover to the correct row. He scanned it for a second before pulling out a dark red velvet book.
He threw the book down, and Silver caught it. Shadow descended and together they leaned over it.
No matter how many pages they flipped through, none contained how to break a hypnotizing hold and/or cure a vampire. This wasn't the book they needed for this occasion.
Together, the brothers reached an unspoken agreement. Silver would put the book back and Shadow would speed over to the Healing Section and try to find a book in there.
They carried out the plan. By the time Silver reached the Healing Section, Shadow had already sped-read through countless books.
Together, the two searched for the right book. After a while, Silver pulled out a book that had no title. Curious, he flipped it open, but to his dismay, it was in Latin. He couldn't read Latin.
Shadow tapped the book silently to get Silver's attention and angled his head towards the outside. Silver nodded and rushed out.
Once outside, they both took a noisy breath. Silver held up the book. "This book looks promising based on the pictures, but the words are in Latin. Can you read Latin?"
"No, but I know someone who can." With that, Shadow unearthed his communicator and punched in a few buttons. Within seconds, Rouge the Bat's face filled the screen.
"Hey, sweetie. Is everything all right? You just said that you need to go and you sped off without any explanation. You left Chaos worried."
"No, Rouge, it's not, unfortunately. Sonic's in deep trouble and he might die unless we do something. Do you have time to do us a favor?"
"Of course. What is it?"
Silver held up the page that looked like it might have what they needed. "Can you translate this? It's Latin."
"Sure I can. Read it out loud to the best of your ability and I'll translate."
Silver stared at it for a second and then began to read it out loud choppily. "Ad sanandum immortalem morbum sanguine inflictum, et sub incantatione perplexum, san- guinem alat."
Rouge thought for a second before answering. "To cure an immortal inflicted with blood disease and under a hypnotizing spell, nourish them with healing blood." She shrugged for a second. "My translation isn't the best like this, but I hope it helps."
"Thanks, Rouge. Get back to your mission, and say hi to Chaos for me," Shadow said.
"Will do. Love you."
She hung up. Shadow slowly lowered his communicator and stared at Silver, who stared back at him.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Shadow whispered.
"Yes," Silver replied just as quietly.
They spoke together. "Black Arms blood."
To be continued…
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