The Crossing Destinies [OPEN Sonic the Hedgehog FF]

Shadows of the past (9/9)

He quickened his steps. 'Why's there such strong hatred?' She mentioned a festival and as far as he could remember, it always involved a lot of happiness and laughter... until he crashed the party, that is. He recognized a small settlement engulfed in red and orange light. Somehow he doubted it was because of the lampions.

He dashed into the village, slowly stopping. Around him was living hell. The townspeople were holding torches, hurting and even killing each other... despite having such sluggish movements. The ground was covered by their disfigured bodies. His fur bristled, not because they seemed to see him as potential stabbing-bag, but Maria's face flashed in his mind.

One elderly woman tried to bite him, so he ripped her head. For some reason, she smelled of apples. His sight was running from one to another. 'Are they possessed?' Their eyes were empty and they were making just some muffled sounds. He kept pushing them aside... meaning ripping their stomachs and chests to pieces, constantly advancing, looking for that one girl.

"M-Maria?" He whispered when he glanced her colorful dress. She was lying on the ground... her chest was red... her body was motionless... He knelt down, hardly paying any attention to two boys trying to cut him with a kitchen knifes. With shaking hand he touched her face... even in her death, there was a hint of a smile and her expression was serene. His eye traveled to her hand where was a small lampion of a red color with attached thin paper tag.

On it, he recognized her handwriting stating her wish: I wish for friend Shadow to visit me sometimes. A strong bitterness filled his mouth. He never thought he would feel disgusted by himself... that he wanted to devour such pure girl. Now... he realized he was having fun with her, she was the first person... human to not treat him like a monster. He reached for the lampion, but it was stomped by a man wielding a sickle.

Around the ebony demon gathered a circle of dead yet still moving humans. Shadow roared, full of an anger and with one swing he utterly smashed three of them. But like they were driven by some primitive instinct, no one backed down, they instead attacked in a larger group. His loud cry was heard thru the whole night, drowning any other sounds.

With each dead body collapsing, he could see her face... her smile... hear her voice... her laughter... The thought he won't be able to see her ever again was driving him insane! What had happened to him? When the last body hit the ground, he felt tired... but not physically, they were such weaklings, but in his mind. He turned toward her dead body that was now covered by additional blood.

He quickly came closer to her, wanting to take her away, but as he saw his hands drenched by blood he felt like vomiting. How could he want to touch her when his hands were so dirty? Never before... he yearned for to be clean... to get rid of the suffocating stench of death. He was gasping when piercing pain run thru his back. He screeched, arching his back.

"You monster!" shouted blue hedgehog holding a silver gun.

Shadow growled, turning toward the attacker. He was seeing red, he was so furious and this guy seemed to be the perfect thing he can take on his frustration. He roared, soaring to the sky and avoiding bullets... five of them. The man in white uniform retracted his hand, reaching for something in his pocket, presumably a full magazine. The demon recognized his chance, diving down.

The blue hedgehog in white clothes smiled, aimed and fired the seventh shot... piercing Shadow's neck. He grunted, feeling a blood escaping from his mouth. In the last moment, he changed his direction, avoiding another bullet, and landing on the ground crouching. He slashed the man with the tail, but his opponent was quite agile. Even in the midair, he didn't stop firing, missing on only a few occasions. He wasn't an ordinary human and he continued to fire like the magazine was bottomless.

Shadow's mind got a bit clearer, noticing the man was firing concentrated energy and not bullets, no wonder the magazine seemed to be infinite. The demon's hands were engulfed in green flames and he smashed the ground. The man lost his footing, but haven't stop shooting. The demonic hedgehog rushed from the dust clouds, catching the gun with his hand and piercing the blue hedgehog's stomach.

"Blue!!" screamed a woman standing nearby with a holy aura. Until now he hadn't noticed her as the man made him focus on himself. The body was thrown away and set in green flames. The ebony demon was clenching the firearm in his hand, trying to crush it.

The aura around the woman got stronger. He didn't care, stepping into her circle and feeling his skin was slightly burning. "You fiend!!" she yelled, holding a small cross and the light intensified. Now the black hedgehog demon growled as electricity was dancing all over his body. He yelped as one big spark slashed him over the chest, but with one thrust he pierced her stomach too.

The blood gushed out of her, splattering on his face. Her death was quick, but she finished the spell before the last breath escaped her. He tossed the body away, being pushed back by the shining cross. He started to madly throw green fireballs on it, but each attempt was deflected. The light got so strong it engulfed everything and Shadow was having no choice but to run away.

The intense glow made his skin burn and his wings felt like they were in one fire... but that wasn't it... it was burning his demonic energy... sucking him dry... He screamed heading to the cliff and jumping to the sea in a hope to get rid of it. But as the water closed above him the cross caught up to him and trapped him inside of its light. His cry was silenced by the liquid that rushed into his lungs. As his voice died out, everything turned black.

When he woke up, he was in a different village, miles away from his original place. All the time he tightly held the gun and the cross was hanging from his neck. He had no recollections of what happened, but the local people helped him to recover. After some time he left that place and heading their advice, he became a priest as it was believed it was his original occupation before some bizarre accident robbed him of memories.

The past... had been revealed and Shadow of the present... went silent. Gold was almost holding her breath. Silver was thinking. He didn't expect such outcome. Even if he hated him, he doubted this story was fabricated. His description answered many mysteries shrouding the disappearance of their two agents.

'But... wait... something isn't right... if the folks were already dead... why were they moving? Who made them that way?' He pondered.

The ebony priest slowly lifted his head showing them he regained full consciousness. "Please... kill me..." he begged in a small voice with tears flowing down.