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“Shadow! Come here!” The shout echoed from one side of the Ark’s observatory to the other, where two siblings went to learn about the planet they so desperately wanted to visit. Maria sat at the almost full-wall window overlooking Earth, while Shadow was at the end of the room sorting through books, one of which his sister had already taken. He left them to heed the call and join her. The textbook sat opened on her lap as she flipped through, holding the ones she wanted to go back to with 2 of her fingers.
“What is it?” Shadow walked over. His eyes first fixed on the rising curve of Earth below, and then on Maria. She excitedly pressed her finger against the glass. A big patch of sea now covered by swirling clouds in the shape of a saw blade. What a sight! They both had only seen those in the pictures provided to them by either info books or from the scientists themselves.
“Woah..” They both uttered.
“What’s that again?” Shadow asked. He placed his hands on the glass as he stared at the formation.
“A hurricane.” Maria flipped to one of the pages she was holding. “Or typhoons, but they’re only called that near East Asia. I don’t think we’re above that right now.”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s pretty easy, maybe if you bothered to study the maps once in a while, you’d know!” She teased.
Shadow looked offended. "It's boring, though!"
"Doesn't matter! You gotta do your work, that's what learning is about!"
The hedgehog pouted and groaned. The schoolwork the scientists saw them to was expected of a 6th grader, at least, they told him it was less than real students would be given. Maybe he didn't want to be a normal kid after all! If they were down there, his grades would be terrible.
“What’s the middle part for? The eye, it’s called the eye, right?” He asked, shaking off the previous thoughts.
“Well, it isn’t really for anything.” Maria quickly skimmed through the text. “I dunno..Can’t find anything on it.”
“The book doesn’t say?”
“I guess not.” Maria shut the textbook, setting it down next to where the two were sitting. She looked upon the planet once again. “I hope nobody down there gets hurt by it..”
“Well, if I were down there,” Shadow pounded his fist into his other hand’s palm. “I’d get rid of that thing easy-peasy! A bunch of clouds are no match for me! Nobody would get hurt by some rain on my watch.”
Maria laughed as he jokingly rambled about his power over the storm.
“I bet I could stop a meteor, I’d protect them from a meteor!”
“I’m sure you would, Shadow!”
…
..I’m sorry.
The fond memory melted away as he was pulled back into reality. The apology was all that his mind could conjure, though he had done what he had boasted for all that time ago, funny. Sorry, for everything he had done leading up to this point. It wasn’t his fault, however, and he knew that now. Memories implanted into his brain by somebody desperate, mad and desperate for vengeance upon the cruel world that took what he loved most away from him. Such fury driven by such love.
Could I be forgiven? Could I forgive?
Shadow the Hedgehog, he repeated his name in his head. He had been fighting for days. He fought for those memories, what he thought was righteous, what he thought she wanted. Only at the last second did he realize the truth. And how quickly it was over. How ironic, created to be the Ultimate Lifeform, only to be beat on the title by who he thought was his enemy, his “fake” as the blue hedgehog put it. It was stupid. But he was thankful. They fought together in the end, to this end, his end. Sonic, it was, had tried to save him, a gesture that would have been taken, but.. one death is better than two. He had to save whoever he could. Even like this.
Steadily he floated downward. Bright stars surrounded him despite being so far away. The Ark stood out, and that shining yellow light streaked back to it. The atmosphere started to sting as he picked up speed. It burned and he wanted to scream a plea that would fall on nothing but the unforgiving void of space and the sky he would fall from. He kept it shut. The pain got worse, and worse.
For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
A tragic, artificial life finished and crowned with a heroic death. The world caved in around the poor soul, it seemed.
A promise of endless peace and paradise waited, being fulfilled as he spent few moments in complete nonexistence.
Before thought was upon him again.
He felt..the ground. But it was not one he had fallen to. Until then, he had only rested on grass as such when he lost in that jungle.. Humiliating to taste defeat on the mud. This was different. It was as comforting as laying on the ground could offer. Soft, delicate grass, quite long as well, providing decent cushioning. The air was cool and calm. The only thing keeping him from falling asleep was a quiet call, one that he could not fully make out. He was not alone in this scape. He was too exhausted, too troubled to fully care until the voice drew closer and closer, calling his name and that’s when he finally opened his eyes. Even after all this time he recognized her voice, how could he forget?
“Shadow! You’re here! You’re here..” The tone shifted from happy to sad in an instant.
He could not sit up to greet her, but he could see, and listen, he tried to find his voice as well.
“Maria…Is that you? Am I..?”
“Yes,” Maria replied. She kneeled down next to him as she approached. “I’m here, I’m real, and..”
Shadow looked around as she trailed off. It was beautiful here. Like the world he had saved, but unlike that world, he would not fail to enjoy it. He’d bask in the sunlight without worry, with no missions to accomplish and no orders to follow. Tears were held back despite the knowledge it was all over, cry later, he thought.
“I’m..truly sad to see you here. You should have survived, been able to live your life on Earth with the friends you made just before…”
“You’re not happy to see me?” The hedgehog asked, feigning sadness. He cracked a smile when he saw her face instantly shift.
“Of course I’m happy to see you, dumb-dumb! I missed you but that doesn’t mean you should’ve died!” Maria heaved a sigh. She took Shadow’s hand and lightly tugged on his arm. “It’s complicated, I mean, you saved the world..”
“It was a necessary sacrifice, Sonic tried to save me but.. I wasn’t going to risk us both dying.”
“I know, I know. And your ring, you gave it to him?”
Shadow moved his left arm forward, showing that the inhibitor that belonged to it was missing. He had given it to Sonic just before he fell, a memoir, he felt no doubt that they grieved holding that ring flowing with power. Grieving who was once their enemy.
“I felt it was right. You were watching that whole thing, weren’t you?”
Maria chuckled. “I was! You were awesome!”
She grabbed her brother’s other arm, pulling him upwards into a sitting position. He looked around as she continued talking.
“I’d been watching you and Abraham since I died, less you because y’know, you’ve been sleeping for 50 years and that’s kinda boring. I made sure to check, though!”
“How nice of you.” Shadow teased. “Hm..Is this all there is? Can we go somewhere?”
“Yeah, where do you want to go?” The blonde asked. She watched as Shadow carefully stood up, he was still tired, yes, but not as much as when he arrived.
“I don’t know,” He turned around to look towards the horizon. “Where can we go?”
“Anywhere.”
“Well, that’s not very helpful! ..Guess we’re going anywhere.”
Shadow offered his hand out to his sister, who happily accepted and stood beside him. She startled him with a quick and sudden embrace that lifted him off the ground. The hug was returned immediately.
“Right, I’m really happy to see you again.” Shadow said, realizing he’d forgotten. “My whole journey down there was to avenge you, and I’m sorry.”
They pulled back and let each other go. The hedgehog fell back to his feet and awaited a response. He thought of how he would face the professor again, unsure if forgiveness was something his heart would allow. Maybe not for the time being.
“It’s okay! I forgave you the minute you realized. Now, let’s get moving. We’re going anywhere.” Maria had kept hold of Shadow’s hand, and, a little forcefully, led him forward.
Reunited family walked side by side, down the hill, through the field, wherever it would take them they’d be happy to see together. Maria informed him of all the interesting things that had happened on Earth while he was in stasis. Shadow was happy to listen and learn.
And after the incident, reality weighed heavy on those he left, those who knew and admired the fact he protected the world with his final breath. They searched and searched for a shred of something to make them suspect he was okay. Every single one turned up with nothing.
Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.