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?”
Kay glanced at Sonic, and he looked back at her. They were both wondering the same thing when they were suddenly and unexpectedly joined by Vector, who made his grand entrance by shouting, “Hey, hey, it’s our girl Kay!”
She turned to look up at his enormous figure and smiled despite herself. The last time she had seen the crocodile was back in New Mobotropolis, just a few days after Knuckles left. They hadn’t really departed on good terms, but just being happy to see a familiar (non-human) face again made her forget about all that, as he had apparently done.
Behind the green giant stood a more standard-sized Mobian. Kay’s heart leapt at the sight of Espio and she beamed at him. He offered a smile in return, his golden eyes catching the sun and making them shine.
But then Knuckles broke the moment by saying to his fellow Chaotix, “Kay is the Emerald’s Chosen.”
Espio nodded. “We know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
It was Vector and Espio’s turn to look at each other. After a slight pause Vector turned back and shrugged. “We were going to tell you eventually...”
“However,” Espio finished, “we thought it best to wait given the current circumstances.”
Kay watched Knuckles’ expression darken. All five of them fell silent for a few moments, each recalling the unfortunate occurrences of the past few days.
All except Sonic, who had not yet been informed. “What happened, Knuckles?”
The echidna sighed, glancing out at the horizon. “I’ll tell you later, Sonic.” Then he turned back to Kay, took a moment to observe her, and then frowned. “I don’t believe the Master Emerald would choose a hedgehog and not an echidna.” Kay took a deep breath, waiting anxiously for his final answer concerning her future training. He stepped aside and gestured to the shrine; an unexpected and out-of-character offer. “Would you like to prove yourself?”
“Knuckles...” Espio began.
The echidna turned to his friend and rose his voice at him a little. “I want to see for myself!”
Another silence settled over them, only this time Kay was not willing to let it last. If Knuckles wanted proof, she would give it to him. It would help them all get on with their day a lot quicker, anyway. So, without a word, she began to climb the steps to the Master Emerald.
I am the Emerald’s Chosen, she thought to herself as she neared the last few steps. Once she had reached the top she immediately put her hand out, pausing just a few inches from touching the magical gem. Kay took yet another deep breath and let it out in a sigh, closed her eyes, and boldly closed the gap between her and the emerald.
Instantly a powerful surge flowed through her body, and a bright light flashed behind her closed eyelids. A loud clap of thunder rumbled, followed by several voices all speaking at once. Tuning in on one particular voice was impossible at this particular moment, but she knew they were from the future. Her heart raced in her chest, and the power flow into her arm was so great that she placed her other hand on the gem as well. The voices grew in numbers and intensity. Finally, just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, one loud voice screamed, “MARIA!!”
And Kay was pushed back from the Master Emerald, the connection severed. She lay on the top of the shrine, facing the green glow of the gem, as the voices faded from her mind. All but one. She breathed hard as though she’d just run a thousand miles nonstop, vaguely aware of footsteps rapidly approaching her position. Then a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently, trying to pull her back into reality.
“Kay, are you all right?” the voice asked. It took her a few moments to recognize it as Espio’s. She opened her eyes again, taking in his worried expression for an instant. He helped her into a sitting position so that she could look down at the others. They were staring with their mouths open, as though they had never seen anything so spectacular in their lives.
“Aurora...” Knuckles breathed, looking as though he might faint.
Kay was too overwhelmed with too many emotions at once to speak, so Espio did for her. “Is that enough proof for you, Knuckles?”
The echidna stared a bit longer, then turned to Sonic and Vector, who both nodded at him. At last he turned back to face her and said, “Yes. I will train you, Kay.”
She was relieved, and now that she didn’t have to worry about anything else at the moment, she collapsed into Espio’s arms, fighting to stay conscious. He held her close and smiled down at her. “Hey there. How was your training?”
She looked up into his golden eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck in an attempted hug. She was so happy to see him and the others again; she felt as though she had been gone for years instead of only weeks. The last echoes of the voices in her head faded, and her consciousness went with it.
Kay slept.
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*Author’s Note* Wow...okay, so obviously this chapter took me all eternity to write...I have my excuses, but I won’t waste your time with them and instead simply say: SOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRYYYYY!!!! D:
I did NOT mean for it to take this long...I knew how I wanted this chapter to go as I was writing Chapter Seventeen back in July. I just never sat down to do it. UGH! I am going to do my best to make sure you guys never have to wait that long for a new chapter again! SORRY!!
You may have noticed the dedication. Huge thanks to TheBookwormMaddy and MysteriousOne for sticking with me throughout this wait and for never giving up on me. They reminded me that I still had fans out there even though I wasn’t updating. Thank you guys!
Also, just a quick reminder about my limited time offer: “Follow the Raven” is a fantasy adventure novel I have been working hard on for two years now. It is something that I would love to have published in the near future, so if you would like a preview of a book that is not on shelves yet (but soon will be), go read the prologue and first two chapters, which are available on my Wattpad page for a short time only. Feedback would also be appreciated, but just knowing you guys read it would be enough for me. Thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving! :D