The Fox and the Seedrian: Frontiers
by milesprower06
Chapter Fifteen
After dinner, and a couple more hours of studying hieroglyph photos she had taken, Lily had slept entirely through the night, and woke up the next morning without recalling hearing any more voices, having returned to the same recurring dreams at the shrine outside.
At first, she had thought that she had heard the voices in the pyramid because she had acclimated herself to the spirits of this place, but now she was wondering if it was just because she had been in the pyramid.
After a hearty breakfast, and making sure they weren't leaving anything behind after they packed up their campsite, it was one more walk past the Super Emerald shrine, and onward towards the much more accessible exit that was recessed into the mountainside, and out into the late morning sun. Tails checked his map, and saw that it was about a two hour hike back to the shrine where their ships were parked.
Lily figured it was a good thing they had taken Sonic's route through the island; if they had gone into the Hidden Palace the way they had just come out, they likely wouldn't have made it to the pyramid, or at least not spent the night inside.
"Dad, am I expecting things to be solved too quickly?" Lily asked as they walked through the forest.
"I know it can be frustrating to have these burning questions in your head, sweetheart. I certainly don't want to dissuade you from continuing to do your own research, but with everything you've read and studied about this island, if this mystery doesn't resolve itself in the next few hours, I think patience is going to be the best choice here," Tails offered.
"Yeah, maybe a few days at home to clear my head will help with a fresh perspective," Lily told him, trying to remain hopeful.
"At the very least, you can tell Knuckles what you've discovered, maybe get his perspective on it," Tails said.
That made the most sense to Lily. Knuckles very rarely left the shrine except in times of crisis, so perhaps he had knowledge that wouldn't be in books or hieroglyphs. The three of them decided to eat lunch on the go, opting for a couple granola bars each, instead of stopping to eat. She knew that her two traveling companions for the past week were probably both anxious to get home and see their loved ones. She was of course hoping that her mom was able to keep herself occupied while they had been out on this excursion, and that she had kept herself company with Chris, Bokkun, and all the others.
She was also thinking of how she wanted to repay her dad and Sonic for putting their personal lives on hold for the past week. Sonic probably enjoyed the stroll down memory lane more than her dad, but it was still a week away from his wife and child. Maybe she could cook them a nice big dinner to thank them.
At last, they came out of the forest, and in the middle of the clearing, was the Master Emerald Shrine, with the Tornado X3 parked a short distance away.
"You can have a quick chat with Knuckles, while I go get the ship ready for takeoff," Tails told Lily, as he and Sonic began to turn away from the shrine to head towards the jet.
"Alright, I'll try and be quick," Lily said. After all, if Knuckles had to do any research himself based on what she told him, there was no reason that she couldn't come back with her own ship.
Lily turned, and half-jogged through the grass towards the shrine, heading up the steps one at a time, grateful that her pack had gotten considerably lighter over the past week.
Once again, she got to the top of the steps, and was greeted by the red echidna.
"Hello, Lily. I'm relieved that you're all safe. Did you get any of the answers that you were looking for?" Knuckles asked.
"I'm… Not sure. That was what I wanted to talk to you about. As we closed in on Sandopolis, I started hearing whispers in my sleep, and by the time we got to the pyramid, I—"
Lily's words were cut short by a dull, distant explosion from somewhere overhead, which had also caught Knuckles' attention. Lily looked behind her to see that the gaze of Sonic and her dad had also turned skyward.
"What was that?" Lily asked, trying to spot anything through the scattered cloud cover the island had in the late afternoon.
Before she could say anything else, her wristwatch began beeping rapidly, and the entire LED screen glowed red. She once again looked back at the hedgehog and fox on the ground, and even from up here, could tell that the same thing happened to their watches as well. Tails immediately looked up at the shrine and began to hurriedly wave her down.
"I'm thinking we might find out."