Chapter Seventeen: Seeking Direction

May 12, 2006

Dear Diary,

We're making another landing, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my mind. But Tails and Chris built out a plan to stabilize our power source that's stabilizing the gap of the Master Emerald and they need supplies. So…

If they think the risk is worth it, then I'm going to trust them. But it still feels terrible. But Chris's thought is that we might be able to gather some intel on the Metarex at the same time. Which is the only way we'll be able to find and help Sonic and Cosmo.

I feel so lost.

We keep trying to make the right choices. But are these the right choices? Is there such a thing anymore?

Amy Rose

Amy sat cross-legged before the shattered remains of the Master Emerald. When she pressed her newly-claimed notebook closed in her lap (they might have limited supplies but there were still a couple notebooks to spare in their storage), she lifted her gaze to stare at the dull shards. Where once had been glistening magic, only stone remained.

So strongly could she relate.

But that wasn't why Amy had settled down to write in the space. No, this was just the one space on the ship where the memory of Sonic's voice didn't echo around her like a siren song. He was never one to hang around the Master Emerald, despite his connection to the Chaos Emeralds. Though Amy knew the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds were connected in some way, in practice, they were often treated like separate entities entirely. Not that Amy could really understand the reasons why. After all, she had only used the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds once and that was in a timeline unwritten. She could never claim expertise there.

"Why do I keep finding you guys here?" Knuckles snapped.

Amy jumped at the sudden sound of Knuckles behind her. She scrambled to her feet, scooping up her notebook as she stood. She nearly tripped in her haste to spin around and face him. "What are you talking about?" she exclaimed, though the words came out more aggressive than necessarily intended.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. He stood leaning against the doorway providing entry to the engine room from the hallway. "I found Tails hanging out in here a few days ago," he said with a shrug.

Amy frowned. Why would that be weird? This was his ship, after all. He had been running all over making repairs. Why wouldn't he have spent time in the engine room? But then Knuckles shifted his eyes over to what had been the Master Emerald and said, "Just don't tell me you're here to try to repair the Master Emerald too."

Amy furrowed her brow. "Why? Don't you want it to be whole?"

"Don't you try to start a fight with me!" he snapped.

If only on instinct, Amy's fiery brand on anger flared up in kind. It lit her up enough that she felt her fingers itching for her hammer. But it wouldn't help. So Amy closed her eyes and breathed until she was sure the fire had cooled. "No," she said eventually. "I just wanted somewhere quiet."

When she looked at Knuckles again, he already watched her with narrowed eyes. "What?" she exclaimed. So much for maintaining her cool.

But that just sparked a grin from Knuckles. "I guess you haven't grown up after all."

Amy rolled her eyes. "None of us have," she muttered.

And that was the problem, wasn't it? They were caught in-between. Young bodies, older minds. A handful of futures, none of them true. Pulled into a thin, taut thread that the smallest pressure would snap. Until all there was around them was darkness and hate. Until they were completely without—

"Hope."

Knuckles furrowed his brow when Amy spoke that single word, hardly more than air. But before he could say anything, she'd already turned away from him and back to the shards of the Master Emerald.

She had never before bothered to learn much about the Chaos Emeralds, if she was being honest. Amy understood the Emeralds as a general concept only. Magical gems fueled by the strength of one's heart. But then there was the part about how when Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds, he was more powerful than something like Perfect Chaos when the monster fueled the Emeralds with their hate.

And now she closed her eyes and let herself revisit that moment.

She said, "Back on Earth, Tails once said that love was stronger than hate. That because Sonic's heart was full of love, the Chaos Emeralds fueled him and made him more powerful than they made Perfect Chaos. And he said something similar, after he beat Shining Birch. He said, 'love and hope are stronger than hate and fear.'"

"And your point is what exactly?" Even without looking at Knuckles's face, Amy could tell by his voice alone that his patience was diminishing.

Amy's eyes flashed back open and she spun back around to face Knuckles, now looking bewildered with wide eyes as he stood in the doorway. "Of course the Master Emerald's still in pieces! Our fear isn't powerful enough to heal it. We need hope!"

Knuckles raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed. "Really?"

Amy scowled. "Why? What's your problem?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes with a groan. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Tails: you don't use the Master Emerald. I ask it. And it decides."

Amy locked her arms against her chest and shrugged. "How's that any different from the Chaos Emeralds?"

Knuckles opened his mouth, then closed it again. His frown deepened. "Isn't it?" he said finally, sounding far less sure of himself now.

"I'm really not the right one to ask," Amy admitted. After all, she still didn't have enough grasp on her ability to use Chaos Control without having a conduit like Nova or Sonic to help her. And without Sonic…

If Nova didn't wake up, then Amy's idea might not be able to help them after all.

-X-X-X-

Shadow's View

Shadow hated leaving Nova's side, even for an instant, even though she had shown no sign of regaining consciousness in the last several days. No sign that she ever would, if Shadow dared to be truly honest with himself, though that was far too difficult a burden to bear for more than a moment. And while Shadow was willing to forego many needs—food, sleep—there wasn't a whole lot he could do about his body still requiring the bathroom.

It was barely down the hall from the infirmary, only maybe two steps away, but his brain rattled around his skull like an alarm bell ringing. Only a minute. No one is with her. But her state hasn't changed in days.

When Shadow stepped back into the hall, his ears perked to hear the wail of the flatline.

Shadow's heart halted in kind. He spun and sprinted into the infirmary. Only to find an IV hanging loose, a screen flatlining,

and an empty bed.

Shadow froze. After days and days, deep in the depths of unconsciousness, sent there by an illness meant to kill her, Nova was gone.

"I know where she went."

Shadow spun around at the small, whispery voice behind him. A girl stood there, out of focus, like a bad signal sent to a television screen. Pale wings protruded from her back and streaks of sonic-blue colored her hair.

And the barely-there Angel whispered, "You still have a chance to save my mom."