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CHAPTER 3
"Talk? Talk about what?" Amy asked nervously. Then she saw Shadow's frantic expression and asked again in a more collected tone. "Shadow? What's wrong?"
Shadow's eyes flickered over to Cream, who was still standing beside Amy. "Not here."
Amy looked at Cream, too.
"Well.... I sure feel like an intruder!" Cream mumbled under her breath as the two hedgehogs glanced back at each other.
"I can't leave Cream behind." Amy said.
Shadow started to pace. There was clearly something urgent Shadow needed to say and Amy really wanted to know what it was, but she couldn't just abandon Cream. Especially since she would be leaving Cream alone in the Marketplace. What if something happened? Shadow got the message and he wasn't pleased. At all. It must be really bothering him.
"As soon as you return to the palace, let's talk." Shadow growled. "I mean it. As soon as you return!"
With that, he plunged back into the crowd and stalked off somewhere; probably headed straight to the palace to await her return. Amy continued to stare at the place where Shadow had been standing just a few seconds ago when she felt a little tug on her sleeves.
"Come on, Amy. Let's go find Knuckles so that you can hurry up and talk to Prince Shadow." Cream said gently. "It must be super important for the second prince to seek you himself!"
Amy could only nod silently in agreement. She seemed to have frozen into stone, so Cream literally had to drag her away.
It took a long time to track down Knuckles' exact whereabouts. It almost seemed as if Rouge was dragging him to every bar/inn in the entire city. If a man told the girls that he saw the echidna and bat couple at so-and-so, three minutes later, another man would say he just passed by them at a different place. To Cream and Amy, tracking them down had started to feel like finding the Labyrinth's exit-- an almost impossible task. When the two girls finally saw them, they were practically crawling and didn't have the strength to call to them, so Amy picked up a small rock and threw it. Unfortunately, the rock flew over Knuckles' head and into someone's drink. Before a warning could be called out, that someone drank it and started chocking.
Unable to breathe and in complete shock, the poor stranger grabbed Rouge's arm, most likely trying to ask for help, but instead, sent them both down. Knuckles only knew one thing: his lover was just pushed down by a stranger. Shouting angrily, he threw the stranger off of Rouge, hurling the pitiful bird into two other birds, both of whom were very large and very angry. The birds struggled up, except for the chocking one who was starting to turn green.
Cream and Amy glanced at each other with a mixture of embarrassed amusement and shocked guilt. Together, they dove into the chaos that was starting to get bigger and bigger. It was an all out boxing game between Knuckles, the two buff birds, and the helpless chocker.
Cream was the first to get knocked out while trying to calm the men down. Ironically, she landed on the bird who had just started turning blue and somehow in some way, the sudden weight on his back caused the bird to cough the stone back up. As the rock flew out, so did Amy's hammer.
"HEY! QUIT IT!!!!" Amy shouted. Immediately, the three stopped fighting, but they still had each other in a lock. "Thank you."
Amy put away her hammer and sighed in relief. The chaos was over.
Then, an elated voice chirped. "Oh, thank you so much!!! You're an angel! A goddess! Oh, merciful Heavens! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought I was going to die for sure!"
Everyone turned to the raven who had been chocking just moments ago. He was pumping Cream's hand so fast, she thought her arm would become dislocated.
One of the big crows spoke up, "You okay there, Tom?"
The raven turned to the crows beside Knuckles and smiled. "I am now!"
For some reason, no one knew why, the atmosphere suddenly became friendly and everyone laughed.
The two bulky crows turned to Amy and shook hands with her.
"You've got some volume, miss." the crow to her left said. "I'm Gil and this here's my twin brother, Phil. That skinny little raven over there is Tom. He's a close friend of ours." Gil pointed out each bird as he said their names.
"Um, nice to meet you!" Amy replied, slightly overwhelmed. "My name's Amy Rose!"
"Ah, the Golden One. There's a lot of rumors about you." Phil said, but after seeing Amy's face deflate a little, he quickly added, "Not anything we believe, of course! We consider you our friend!"
Friend. There was that beautiful word again. Hearing it, Amy smiled despite herself.
"Woah, friends already? That was quick!" Rouge blurted.
The birds laughed. "Anyone with an energy like the Golden One's, here, is a friend of us. That includes you all, too!"
Amy smiled. 'So there are people like them in this world, too....'
The birds invited Amy and the rest for dinner. Forgetting why this had even started, Amy agreed. Before they all knew it, the sun was no longer visible. She had forgotten the urgent need to speak to Shadow. However, the memory fell on her like a ton of bricks the moment she realized the time.
"Ah, dang it!" Amy cried. "I need to go right away!"
Everyone, except for Cream, protested.
"Aw, don't go! It's not even midnight yet!" Tom chirped.
"I'm sorry. I need to speak with someone about important matters, but, hey, I might visit you guys!" Amy said.
"Don't 'might' me! You'd better visit or else I'll go find you!" Phil and Gil said simultaneously. As soon as they said it, they looked at each other with annoyance.
This caused another round of laughter.
Amy grinned. "Fine. I will come back to visit. Gotta go! Bye!"
Everyone shouted their own good-byes as Amy raced out of the Green Inn and onto the streets, heading straight for the palace.
'Please let Shadow be in a forgiving mood....' Amy thought.
(Is he ever?) Not really. And he certainly wasn't feeling very forgiving after standing by the entrance ever since he got back.
As soon as Amy burst into the palace, she met Shadow's heated glare and tripped, causing her to land sprawled out on the carpet in front of him. "Sorry, sorry! As soon as you left, Cream and I went to go find Knuckles, but he and Rouge are like fish that slip out of your hands before you can catch them! And then when we finally found them, I threw a rock and Tom started chocking on then--"
Amy shut up as soon as Shadow put his hands up for silence. With that same hand, Shadow snatched Amy's wrist and guided her quickly down several hallways. After many twists and turns, they finally arrived at a silver door that looked a lot like a safe. It opened like a safe, too, except that you had to use three or so keys to unlock it first.
Shadow marched right in as Amy hesitated at the doorway, staring at the private door.
"Are you going to come in or not?!" Shadow spat.
Amy flinched and almost ran away, but her body moved forward. As soon as she was completely in, Shadow slammed the door shut and locked it back. Even though her instincts told her to run, Amy 's curiosity was stronger.
"Shadow, what's going on?" Amy asked. "What's been on your mind?"
Shadow was pacing again, agitated beyond control. "I'll tell you what's going on, it's your stupidity that got us into this mess!"
"Wah--?" Amy bit back any retort she was going to shout at him.
'This isn't the time for that, Amy.' she thought to herself.
After taking a deep breath to relax, Amy tried again. "Will you please tell me what's bothering you?"
"You! You're bothering me!" Shadow shouted.
This time Amy didn't hold back. "Gah!!! What did I do?!"
"You let that squirrel bury herself into Sonic's heart and now they might get married!!!"
"I'm sorry? It's not like I didn't try! Maybe they're met to be together!"
"Yeah, but if they get married, we will be forced to marry each other! I have no desire to be married." Shadow growled. "I thought you needed to become Queen no matter what!"
This was what Shadow understood about her that no one else did. When she first came to this kingdom, she had her eyes set on becoming Queen. That was her goal. No, she had never told Shadow her reasons nor her plan. He just guessed. The first time they met, he just guessed. She could see the slight disgust and interest in his red eyes-- nearly lifeless even though they were the color of passion. It was an unspoken agreement that friendship was never an option for them. Acquaintances, maybe. Just because they understood each other without words. But never friends. She knew, just as he did, that their schedules were different. However, it still hurt to feel unwanted.
With bitter tears threatening to spill, Amy clenched her jaw and growled back. "I can still be Queen! He didn't propose yet, did he?" Shadow shook his head. "Then I can still be Queen! I have a chance!"
"You have about 24 hours left, Lady Rose." Shadow said, finally calming down enough to stop growling. "Tomorrow night, there will be another ball. If the rumor spreading among the servants is true, then Sonic will be choosing his bride then. You have until then to win his favor. Got it?"
Amy nodded solemnly. She had to do this. Nothing else mattered.

Description

CHAPTER 3
"Talk? Talk about what?" Amy asked nervously. Then she saw Shadow's frantic expression and asked again in a more collected tone. "Shadow? What's wrong?"
Shadow's eyes flickered over to Cream, who was still standing beside Amy. "Not here."
Amy looked at Cream, too.
"Well.... I sure feel like an intruder!" Cream mumbled under her breath as the two hedgehogs glanced back at each other.
"I can't leave Cream behind." Amy said.
Shadow started to pace. There was clearly something urgent Shadow needed to say and Amy really wanted to know what it was, but she couldn't just abandon Cream. Especially since she would be leaving Cream alone in the Marketplace. What if something happened? Shadow got the message and he wasn't pleased. At all. It must be really bothering him.
"As soon as you return to the palace, let's talk." Shadow growled. "I mean it. As soon as you return!"
With that, he plunged back into the crowd and stalked off somewhere; probably headed straight to the palace to await her return. Amy continued to stare at the place where Shadow had been standing just a few seconds ago when she felt a little tug on her sleeves.
"Come on, Amy. Let's go find Knuckles so that you can hurry up and talk to Prince Shadow." Cream said gently. "It must be super important for the second prince to seek you himself!"
Amy could only nod silently in agreement. She seemed to have frozen into stone, so Cream literally had to drag her away.
It took a long time to track down Knuckles' exact whereabouts. It almost seemed as if Rouge was dragging him to every bar/inn in the entire city. If a man told the girls that he saw the echidna and bat couple at so-and-so, three minutes later, another man would say he just passed by them at a different place. To Cream and Amy, tracking them down had started to feel like finding the Labyrinth's exit-- an almost impossible task. When the two girls finally saw them, they were practically crawling and didn't have the strength to call to them, so Amy picked up a small rock and threw it. Unfortunately, the rock flew over Knuckles' head and into someone's drink. Before a warning could be called out, that someone drank it and started chocking.
Unable to breathe and in complete shock, the poor stranger grabbed Rouge's arm, most likely trying to ask for help, but instead, sent them both down. Knuckles only knew one thing: his lover was just pushed down by a stranger. Shouting angrily, he threw the stranger off of Rouge, hurling the pitiful bird into two other birds, both of whom were very large and very angry. The birds struggled up, except for the chocking one who was starting to turn green.
Cream and Amy glanced at each other with a mixture of embarrassed amusement and shocked guilt. Together, they dove into the chaos that was starting to get bigger and bigger. It was an all out boxing game between Knuckles, the two buff birds, and the helpless chocker.
Cream was the first to get knocked out while trying to calm the men down. Ironically, she landed on the bird who had just started turning blue and somehow in some way, the sudden weight on his back caused the bird to cough the stone back up. As the rock flew out, so did Amy's hammer.
"HEY! QUIT IT!!!!" Amy shouted. Immediately, the three stopped fighting, but they still had each other in a lock. "Thank you."
Amy put away her hammer and sighed in relief. The chaos was over.
Then, an elated voice chirped. "Oh, thank you so much!!! You're an angel! A goddess! Oh, merciful Heavens! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought I was going to die for sure!"
Everyone turned to the raven who had been chocking just moments ago. He was pumping Cream's hand so fast, she thought her arm would become dislocated.
One of the big crows spoke up, "You okay there, Tom?"
The raven turned to the crows beside Knuckles and smiled. "I am now!"
For some reason, no one knew why, the atmosphere suddenly became friendly and everyone laughed.
The two bulky crows turned to Amy and shook hands with her.
"You've got some volume, miss." the crow to her left said. "I'm Gil and this here's my twin brother, Phil. That skinny little raven over there is Tom. He's a close friend of ours." Gil pointed out each bird as he said their names.
"Um, nice to meet you!" Amy replied, slightly overwhelmed. "My name's Amy Rose!"
"Ah, the Golden One. There's a lot of rumors about you." Phil said, but after seeing Amy's face deflate a little, he quickly added, "Not anything we believe, of course! We consider you our friend!"
Friend. There was that beautiful word again. Hearing it, Amy smiled despite herself.
"Woah, friends already? That was quick!" Rouge blurted.
The birds laughed. "Anyone with an energy like the Golden One's, here, is a friend of us. That includes you all, too!"
Amy smiled. 'So there are people like them in this world, too....'
The birds invited Amy and the rest for dinner. Forgetting why this had even started, Amy agreed. Before they all knew it, the sun was no longer visible. She had forgotten the urgent need to speak to Shadow. However, the memory fell on her like a ton of bricks the moment she realized the time.
"Ah, dang it!" Amy cried. "I need to go right away!"
Everyone, except for Cream, protested.
"Aw, don't go! It's not even midnight yet!" Tom chirped.
"I'm sorry. I need to speak with someone about important matters, but, hey, I might visit you guys!" Amy said.
"Don't 'might' me! You'd better visit or else I'll go find you!" Phil and Gil said simultaneously. As soon as they said it, they looked at each other with annoyance.
This caused another round of laughter.
Amy grinned. "Fine. I will come back to visit. Gotta go! Bye!"
Everyone shouted their own good-byes as Amy raced out of the Green Inn and onto the streets, heading straight for the palace.
'Please let Shadow be in a forgiving mood....' Amy thought.
(Is he ever?) Not really. And he certainly wasn't feeling very forgiving after standing by the entrance ever since he got back.
As soon as Amy burst into the palace, she met Shadow's heated glare and tripped, causing her to land sprawled out on the carpet in front of him. "Sorry, sorry! As soon as you left, Cream and I went to go find Knuckles, but he and Rouge are like fish that slip out of your hands before you can catch them! And then when we finally found them, I threw a rock and Tom started chocking on then--"
Amy shut up as soon as Shadow put his hands up for silence. With that same hand, Shadow snatched Amy's wrist and guided her quickly down several hallways. After many twists and turns, they finally arrived at a silver door that looked a lot like a safe. It opened like a safe, too, except that you had to use three or so keys to unlock it first.
Shadow marched right in as Amy hesitated at the doorway, staring at the private door.
"Are you going to come in or not?!" Shadow spat.
Amy flinched and almost ran away, but her body moved forward. As soon as she was completely in, Shadow slammed the door shut and locked it back. Even though her instincts told her to run, Amy 's curiosity was stronger.
"Shadow, what's going on?" Amy asked. "What's been on your mind?"
Shadow was pacing again, agitated beyond control. "I'll tell you what's going on, it's your stupidity that got us into this mess!"
"Wah--?" Amy bit back any retort she was going to shout at him.
'This isn't the time for that, Amy.' she thought to herself.
After taking a deep breath to relax, Amy tried again. "Will you please tell me what's bothering you?"
"You! You're bothering me!" Shadow shouted.
This time Amy didn't hold back. "Gah!!! What did I do?!"
"You let that squirrel bury herself into Sonic's heart and now they might get married!!!"
"I'm sorry? It's not like I didn't try! Maybe they're met to be together!"
"Yeah, but if they get married, we will be forced to marry each other! I have no desire to be married." Shadow growled. "I thought you needed to become Queen no matter what!"
This was what Shadow understood about her that no one else did. When she first came to this kingdom, she had her eyes set on becoming Queen. That was her goal. No, she had never told Shadow her reasons nor her plan. He just guessed. The first time they met, he just guessed. She could see the slight disgust and interest in his red eyes-- nearly lifeless even though they were the color of passion. It was an unspoken agreement that friendship was never an option for them. Acquaintances, maybe. Just because they understood each other without words. But never friends. She knew, just as he did, that their schedules were different. However, it still hurt to feel unwanted.
With bitter tears threatening to spill, Amy clenched her jaw and growled back. "I can still be Queen! He didn't propose yet, did he?" Shadow shook his head. "Then I can still be Queen! I have a chance!"
"You have about 24 hours left, Lady Rose." Shadow said, finally calming down enough to stop growling. "Tomorrow night, there will be another ball. If the rumor spreading among the servants is true, then Sonic will be choosing his bride then. You have until then to win his favor. Got it?"
Amy nodded solemnly. She had to do this. Nothing else mattered.