Chapter Text
The late evening sun bathed the slanted orange rooftops of Spagonia’s urban haven in a deep amber glow. Across the wide city streets one could spot storeowners hawking their wares, regular folk buying their meals from various restaurants and cafes, and the city’s mighty clocktower looming over it all in a manner that comforted rather than intimidated.
Amy had secured herself a fairly decent hotel room for the next couple weeks. She was excited to start working on renovating Josef’s shop tomorrow, and hopefully she could convince him to please pick a more interesting store name. She liked the guy, but come on!
Amy snorted in amusement. So much had changed in her life.
Just a month ago, she never would have expected to travel to half as many places as she had now. Heck, a month ago she couldn’t even move outside of the bubble that had her trapped in Cyberspace. She could understand why Sonic was so restless all the time, if that’s what sitting still felt like to him.
But Amy was free of that cramped little bubble and feeling better than ever! After making such an impact by helping so many spirits pass by fulfilling the Kocos’ memories, she had been experiencing a renewed sense of direction in life. After all, there were more than just a couple of struggling Kocos out in the world! There were entire communities waiting to become something united and beautiful with just a little collaboration and inspiration.
If she could help so many on Starfall Islands, then what was to stop her from sharing that with more than just her friends?
Once she had announced her newfound mission, she’d felt the support pour in from her friend group. It seemed as if the people she knew (the ones who cared at least) were all in favor of what she was planning. A couple of them even asked if they could help her out on the off-chance that they were in the area. Amy had appreciated the thought, but after Cyberspace so many of them were already on their own journeys of self-discovery, so she was not about to interrupt that. And besides, this was something that she knew she could accomplish on her own.
Yes, it was ambitious. Maybe even a bit of a stretch! But who was Amy Rose if not a girl who could achieve the impossible? Every step mattered, and she intended to keep going no matter her obstacles.
Oh well. That was a concern for tomorrow. Tonight, Amy had more important things to focus on, like… yawning. Mostly yawning.
It had been a long trip, and a mid-tier hotel bed had never looked more enticing. The gentle sunset glowing through her room’s windows, the wafting scent of daisies in a vase on the end table, the neatly pressed (if visually uninspired) duvet… Amy was fighting the urge to just faceplant on the mattress right then and there and konk out for the night.
Nope, no, she had standards. Standards! She wasn’t just gonna sleep in a way that might leave her with a weird muscle twinge tomorrow or something. If she was going to be productive at all, she needed to actually get a proper night’s rest.
As Amy dressed herself in a set of pajamas that she had painstakingly folded into her suitcase, she took out her phone and charger and placed it on the end table. Thank goodness she remembered to bring a universal plug adapter, she had nearly lost it during packing and Tails would never have let her hear the end of that if he found out.
Hmmm, maybe she should call Tails before calling it a night? The hedgehog tilted her head, thinking it over for a second.
“Nah.” Amy shook her head. The fox might have still been busy with his own adventure, and she didn’t want to bother him. She hadn’t caught all of the details of what he was doing, but it sounded exciting at the very least! There was another name in her contacts that might respond, though.
Amy grinned for a second and pressed the name on her contact list labeled “Sonic💙”, waiting for a few seconds before hearing a familiar voice ring out through the speakers.
“Ames! How’s it going?” Sonic chirped. Time zone difference, clearly it was much earlier in the day for him.
“Great!” Amy replied. “No complaints here, just got to my hotel in Spagonia, and it is looking gorgeous!” She sat on the mattress, staring out at the now twilight sky. “Ooh, just today I even got to meet up with Josef again and… and…” Amy’s train of thought was interrupted by a yawn.
“Wow. Weren’t you just in Apotos yesterday?” Sonic’s bemused chuckling was audible through the receiver. “What are you, trying to break my speed record?” He joked in a mock-suspicious tone.
“Oh, hush you!” Amy said, rolling her eyes but unable to keep the grin off of her face. “I don’t judge your vacation habits, now do I?”
“I get it, I get it! Just wanna make sure you’re actually taking some time to rest in-between helping out everyone you meet, y’know?”
Amy squinted her eyes at the phone and remained silent.
“...Okay, maybe I’m a hypocrite there.” Sonic admitted.
Amy’s grin returned. “Now you listen to me, Sonic; I’m having a great time out here! This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and I promise that I’m doing it at the pace I want to do.”
“I believe you!” Sonic said. “...I’m really proud of you, Amy. Honestly. Maybe even a little jealous.”
Amy felt her heart warm up even more. She was already proud of herself for all the hard work she was doing, but it was always nice to hear it from one of her best friends. Always good to know that she had people in her corner. Even when they were so far away…
The pink hedgehog cleared her throat. “Thanks! And don’t worry, I’m sure your ego’s gonna get fed eventually.”
“I hope so.” Sonic playfully whined. “But what’s your plan after this?”
“I don’t have anything on the agenda, actually!” Amy clarified. “I’ll probably head home for a little bit until I get in contact with someone else.” She smirked at Sonic’s tone. “What, are you missing me already?”
“Har, har.” Sonic deadpanned, although his smile was almost audible over the call. “Real talk, though, it’d be nice to have you back.”
Amy nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that’d be fun! How about when I get back, we can hang out with Big at his lake? Just us three, nice way to unwind after all the excitement.”
“Hmmmm, sounds peaceful already.” Sonic hummed. “I might just get bored.”
“I’m sure you will.” Amy stuck her tongue out playfully as she sassed the blue hedgehog back. “As if you don’t like hanging out with Big, I’ve seen you two have fun together!”
“Fair point, I’m in. Now, go to bed already.”
“I will, I will. Talk to you soon.” Amy leaned back on the pillow.
“Sleeeeep, I command it!”
Amy giggled. “Oh noooo!” She responded. “Okay, bye.”
“Bye!” Sonic said before ending the call on his end.
Amy shut off her phone and stared at the pitch-black screen. She really hoped Sonic meant what he said earlier. She knew that this wasn’t really much of anything compared to rescuing the world from sheer destruction over and over and over, but she was doing her part to improve people’s lives! That was something!
It had to be.
Amy’s train of thought was derailed as another yawn forced its way out. She rubbed her eyes, shut off all the lights, climbed underneath the covers, and drifted off into a deep sleep.
cyclecyclecyclecycle
Crumbling pillars of stone, a dense white fog surrounding everything.
Cycle.
Amy couldn’t move and was sprinting through everything at once.
Sky-blue robes, a mask with eyes like pools of dark matter emerging from the mist,
Everything was spiraling and spiraling and cycle and cycle and CycleCycleBreakTHECYCLE
“Help me.”
Amy jolted awake in bed as the morning sun beamed in from outside. She put a hand to her chest to steady her breathing as the events from her dream burned in her mind.
“Hah… hah… hoooohhhhh…” She exhaled and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what in the world that was supposed to be.
Was it a nightmare? It was intense, but it wasn’t exactly frightening, more so impenetrable. None of the images in Amy’s mind seemed to have any cohesion. And if it was a nightmare, then why did she now feel so…
Revitalized?