The Albion Prophecy (A Sonic Fanfic)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Kay got to her feet and brushed herself off, observing how clean and beautiful her surroundings were. She took a deep breath of pure, fresh air, set her sights on the Shrine Isle, and started towards it, forcing herself to focus her mind as she walked.

Going to Station Square for training had been a mistake. While she did learn some basic hand-to-hand combat moves, she knew now that it would not help her in the future. Her vision the night before told her that she needed Chaos training. Shadow would have been her first choice had he agreed to help her. Kay frowned. She still didn’t know why he had gotten so angry at her.

Now she was on Angel Island after having left the human population behind with no regrets (except for wasting her trainers’ time). Knuckles was her next best option, since he was one of the few Chaos Masters on the planet. His connection to the Master Emerald was a bonus.

Kay realized that she had not seen Knuckles for weeks. In fact, the last time she had seen him was right after Antoine’s accident. She’d mentioned that the Emerald had acted strangely when she came close to it before, but that was all he knew. She’d never had a chance to tell him that she was the Emerald’s Chosen.

Knuckles watched as she approached the edge of the main island and began to cross the bridge to the Shrine Isle. She had made the walk twice already, but being thousands of feet in the air with nothing to catch her if she fell still made her stomach flip. The last echidna made his way down the steps of the shrine to greet her once she set foot on the small isle.

“Hey,” she said quietly, taking a good look at him. His arms were crossed and his eyes looked tired, similar to the way he’d been when she first met him. Only this time the tragedy surrounding him was far worse.

“Hi,” he replied simply, nodding at her politely. “What’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you about something important.”

Knuckles shrugged tiredly. “All right. Shoot.”

Kay paused, trying to think of the gentlest way to bring him up to speed and ask for his help. “Do you remember back in New Mobotropolis when I told you the Master Emerald had reacted to me?” He nodded once. Kay shifted her weight from one foot to the other and launched into her explanation of things, filling him in on everything that had happened to her since the day he left. When she said, “I’m the Emerald’s Chosen,” Knuckles’ eyes widened in shock. She paused, waiting for his reply.

Finally, after a few moments of darting eyes and confused expressions, he said, “I don’t believe it...the Master Emerald didn’t choose an echidna?”

“Believe it, pal,” Sonic spoke up from behind Kay, making her jump a little. He put his arm around her and gave her a playful nudge. “Our new friend here broke a roboticizer this morning.”

Knuckles stared at her. “You’re kidding.” She shook her head slowly, cautious about overwhelming him any more than he already was. At length he asked, “So why come to me?”

This time Kay explained how she had gone to Station Square and trained with Shadow and Rouge. She told him about her visit from Athair. When she got to the part about her capture, Sonic broke in to help her tell the tale. Kay finished with, “Long story short, Knuckles, I need a teacher. You are my best bet right now.”

There was a long pause as Knuckles took in all the new information at once. Kay could see his mind churning, confused and upset and excited all at the same time. Finally he spoke. “Vector and Espio knew about this. Why didn’t they tell me?”