Trustworthy
Deep within the guts of the complex, surrounded by a strange amalgam of refined metal and virgin rock, immersed in suffocating darkness, our heroes advanced.
Leading the way, Sally lit the path with one of her swords at the maximum brightness it could provide. She was visibly nervous, breathing strangely, her free hand shaking slightly and erratically, scratching the pocket where she kept the last chocolate bar. Behind her, Nicole looked to her worried, so she approached and took her arm. Sally jumped for a moment, but when she saw Nicole beside her, she let out a sigh of relief, and her hand stopped shaking.
Behind the girls was Sonic, his hands behind his head, yawning. They had been walking aimlessly for quite some time, and he was starting to get impatient. He looked into the distance at how tense Sally was and found it curious that the squirrel was more nervous inside a cave than falling from the sky. He turned to comment on it to Amy, but his mood changed when he saw that the girl was in the same or worse state, hugging herself, trembling, and looking around nervously.
"Is everything okay, Ames?"
"Huh? Oh! Y-yeah! I'm fine! I just didn't know it would be so cold down here, hehe..."
She was lying. It was so hot that one could see beads of sweat on her forehead. She never lied, not to him.
Sonic approached Amy and wrapped his arm around her waist. He could feel her tense up at first, but then she began to relax.
"There's no need to act tough."
"I'm not..."
The hedgehog stared at the girl and she fell silent, her face turning redder by the second.
"I don't want to ruin the mission. I-I can keep going..."
"It's okay," Sonic smiled at her. "We're all here, we can keep going together." He moved even closer to the hedgehog, took her arm and wrapped it around him, and let her rest her head on his chest.
It was much more than Sonic was used to allowing the girl, and he was already beginning to feel a little nervous, but he could feel Amy breathing more calmly, so he felt satisfied.
"Don't do anything weird with us around, lovebirds," Sally joked as she watched them out of the corner of her eye.
"I was going to say the same thing to you, Sal," the hedgehog replied sarcastically.
Nicole reacted trying to let go of Sally's arm, but the princess held her back and pulled her even closer, holding her by the waist. Sonic and Amy burst out laughing.
After a few minutes of walking in the dark, they reached a more open and better-lit area. Sally and Amy sighed with some relief, although they still looked nervous. It was a crossroads where several different paths diverged, each one darker and more claustrophobic than the last. Nicole stepped forward and brushed some dust off her body, scattering it across all the paths.
"I'll do a quick reconnaissance, it'll take a minute," explained the lynx.
"Take all the time you need. It's not like I'm dying to go into any of those tiny holes," said Sally as she sat down on the floor and opened her chocolate bar.
"You didn't bring the X-Gear, but you did bring candy? That's the second chocolate you've eaten"
"The third, actually. And the candy is from me," Amy clarified as she also sat down and took out a chocolate bar for herself.
"You shouldn't give Sal so much sugar. I don't want her to become prediabetic."
"Argh, you're so dramatic! I don't eat that much sugar anyway!"
"Relax. The chocolate doesn't have real sugar, it has stevia."
Sally stopped short, perplexed. She looked at the half-eaten chocolate and then at Amy with an expression of treachery.
"...It doesn't have sugar? Amy, I trusted you! How could you betray me like this?!"
"Oh, come on! I've been using stevia in my food for years!"
"Years?" Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So my favorite milkshakes that you always make don't have sugar either?! How could you be so cruel…?"
"Don't play the victim! Neither of you noticed until I said it out loud!"
"Now I won't be able to get it out of my head..." replied the hedgehog dejectedly.
"It doesn't taste the same anymore..." said Sally after taking a bite of her chocolate and letting out a sad sigh.
Amy stuck her tongue out at them both.
"Recognition complete," the dust released by Nicole had returned to her. "I'm transmitting the data to the phone, Sal," part of the dust flew to the device and entered it.
"Okay, I see it... Hmm, almost all the paths are dead ends, only two lead to points of interest. We need to split up."
"Perfect. Ames and I can go one way and you girls—"
"No," Sally interrupted sonic. "Amy and I will take the north path. Nicole and you take the south path."
"What?! Why?" protested the lynx.
"Only you and I have a map of the area. If Sonic and Amy go alone, they'll be lost."
"B-but then I'll go with Amy and you with-!"
"You heard the boss, Nic," the hedgehog shrugged and proceeded to carry Nicole in his arms.
"Let me go!! Don't carry me like that! And DON'T CALL ME NIC!!!"
"If the analysis is correct, we'll meet somewhere along our respective paths. We'll see each other in the middle."
"Done!"
"No, please! Sally, no...!" Nicole's pleas faded as she and the sprinter sped away.
"I don't know why I get the feeling you just did something very cruel to Nicole," Amy commented.
"She'll be fine, don't worry. Now I need to talk to you alone."
"If it's about the stevia—!"
"We'll talk about the stevia later, I mean something else..."
The North path was less narrow and had poor but functional lighting, which helped the girls feel less nervous as they crossed it. Despite this, they walked arm in arm.
"I can't wait to go to the beach after this," Amy joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Me too. I've had enough dark places for the rest of my life. Luckily, the mission is going well... despite the bad start."
"Oh, come on! That was just an oversight on our part. Besides, we got out in one piece!"
"Maybe, but it was pure luck. Luck is the only thing you can't plan for. By the time you realize you don't have it, it's too late."
"Why are you suddenly so pessimistic, Sal?"
Sally was silent for a moment, pondering her thoughts and how best to express them. She took a breath and continued:
"I'm worried about you, Amy. I know firsthand that you're capable of doing things sensibly; I saw that when I visited The Restoration. That's why I'm worried that you'll be the first to jump into the void right behind Sonic."
"Hey, you jumped too!"
"I know! And Nicole will never let me forget it! But I did it because I was following you... because I trust you."
"And I trust Sonic! I mean, things with him can get complicated, but they always work out in the end! He knows what he's doing!"
"Did he know what he was doing when he caused that explosion seven months ago?"
Amy fell into silence, then lowered her head and looked away, becoming more nervous.
"Th-that... that was an accident..."
"An 'accident' that almost cost you your life, that cost both of us our lives. Just like today."
"Y-yes, but..." Amy looked around as if she wanted to find the right reply on the cave walls. "B-but you saved me then! And I saved us today! Everything turned out fine in the end thanks to—"
"Luck, Amy. Pure luck..."
They both remained silent. The echo of their footsteps reverberated off the walls of the passageway along with the faint hum of the lights illuminating them. In the distance, they could hear a steady drip that sounded like the ticking of a clock. Amy squeezed Sally's arm a little harder, and Sally turned to look at her.
"I think... I think you're being very unfair to Sonic..."
"Don't let your infatuation with him cloud your judgment, Amy..."
"Excuse me?! No!" Amy stopped short, letting go of Sally's arm abruptly. "I'm not letting anything cloud anything for me, Sally!" Her voice echoed throughout the cave.
"Shhh, there's no need to get so upset...!"
"No! Listen to me! You can deny it aaaall you want! But you and Sonic aren't that different!" The hedgehog repeatedly pressed her right index finger against the squirrel's chest.
"What the heck are you talking about...?"
"You two have a lot in common! You're both fearless and daring, you two have a strong sense of justice and sacrifice yourselves for others without asking for anything in return, you two love adventure and hate oppression. The only difference is that you grew up in a castle under a strict regime and Sonic has managed on his own for most of his life. But if you had lived the same life as him, I'm absolutely convinced you would behave almost exactly the same way...!" Little by little, Amy calmed down and softened her attitude. "I think that's why I get along so well with you, you remind me so much of him..."
"At this point, I don't know if you're saying that as a compliment or an insult."
"Take it however you want! But for me it's a fact..." Amy paused for a moment, slightly embarrassed even. "You know? Sometimes I think that, if it weren't because Sonic and I are Complete and Absolute Soulmates... You and he would make a cute couple~."
Sally considered the scenario for a moment, then let out a small laugh.
"Maybe, but I don't know. I guess in another reality I would find his arrogance charming, but now I just find it irritating. Sometimes I feel like punching him."
"Me too! That's part of his charm!"
"You have very strange tastes, Amy."
The hedgehog hugged her friend's arm tightly and pulled her close.
"Those tastes are what make you my friend, Sal~♥."
"... Touché."
At the other end of the cave, on the south path, Sonic and Nicole traveled at breakneck speed through the narrow passages until they reached a wide gallery, barely lit by a handful of spotlights, with a large, dark precipice occupying half the space. Nicole broke free and jumped away from the hedgehog as she shook the panic from her body, then began throwing punches at Sonic.
"Ten times! I told you to slow down ten times and you didn't listen to me!"
"Of course I did! We went from 310 mph to 300 mph. Almost like turtles."
"Your perception of reality is horribly distorted...!" The lynx sighed and tried to regain her composure. "You really are a lover of chaos and anarchy, aren't you?"
"You say that as if it were a bad thing."
"I'm more of a fan of order and calm."
"It sounds like your hobby is filling out Excel spreadsheets."
"Yes, actually. So?"
"... Let's keep working. I think there's something over there that might interest you."
Next to the cliff was a small hut with a computer and an elevator that appeared to be broken. Nicole used her dust to enter the computer system. She stood motionless, staring into the void as she made movements as if typing in the air.
"As I suspected, this is a mining complex."
"Is Eggman trying to find another 'super stone' like the Emeralds or the Phantom Ruby?"
"It seems to be the case. I'm accessing the classified records... The defenses are solid, but outdated. This place was abandoned long ago... It seems that the mining did not meet the Doctor's expectations. He had conducted research on the type of resources he could find, but he couldn't get what he really wanted... Hmm, was he following a trail of Chaos energy...? Can Chaos Emeralds be hidden underground?"
"As far as I know, no. They are difficult to track, but they are often hidden in plain sight on the surface."
"How strange... There's a record whose defense is much more robust. This will take me a little longer."
"Whatever you need, Nic. It's not like we can go anywhere else."
In that dark abyss, a strange icy breeze blew, causing the surrounding rocks to echo as if they were the snoring of a sleeping beast. Sonic began to feel uncomfortable. He wasn't claustrophobic, but he was eager to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Okay, I made it in! I have full access, I can find out exactly what the Doctor was looking for... This is... 'Mining Project for the extraction, refinement, and exploitation of Meta-Quar...'" Nicole immediately covered her mouth.
"What? What did you find out? Is it serious?"
The lynx didn't react, she seemed to be in a daze, too terrified to perceive the world around her. She came to her senses for a moment to continue her hacking.
"By Gaia, I hope he hasn't found anything, he hasn't found anything, he hasn't found..." the lynx muttered as she made her strange hand gestures more quickly. "There's nothing... He didn't find anything! Perfect!" Nicole clenched her fists, causing the computer she was connected to explode, releasing the dust back onto her. "We must meet with Sally immediately!"
"Wait a minute," Sonic stopped the lynx by holding her arm. "Are you going to explain to me what you found?"
"No..." Nicole was categorical, but she couldn't hide her nervousness.
"And I'm supposed to be comfortable with that?"
"You don't understand, it's a safety issue..."
"Hey guys, up here!" Amy's voice echoed throughout the gallery.
Looking up, they could see a cliff above them from which Sally and Amy were peeking out, the latter waving cheerfully. Both jumped toward the cave walls, Sally planting her swords, Amy her hammer, and thus they were able to climb down safely.
"Why the long faces?" Sally asked as she approached. "Did you find anything?"
"Sally..." Nicole grabbed the princess by the arm. "We need to talk."
While Sally and Nicole talked privately, Amy and Sonic waited in a more secluded spot. The hedgehog stood with his arms crossed, looking quite irritated. He couldn't take his impassive gaze off the girls. His foot was shaking uncontrollably.
"Is something bothering you, Sonic?" Amy asked worriedly.
"They're hiding something from us..."
"Maybe it's a sensitive issue for them."
"Aren't we supposed to be a team? Don't they trust us? I don't like this at all..."
Amy placed her hand on the hedgehog's arms and tried to get him to focus on her.
"If they didn't trust us, we wouldn't be here in the first place. Some things just take time to say... or can't be said at all."
"There's no reason to hide anything."
"Yes, there are, and you know it. I doubt The Master Emerald would be very safe if everyone knew where it was, for example."
"That's... different."
Amy took one of Sonic's hands and squeezed it between hers against her chest.
"Whatever has to happen will happen eventually. Just be patient."
Sally called out, signaling the hedgehogs to come closer.
"This is..." The princess looked particularly disturbed, although she tried to hide it. "… much more serious than I anticipated."
"Can you enlighten us on this?" asked the hedgehog.
"Not at the moment..."
Sonic let out a snort of exasperation.
"The next thing we have to do is destroy this place completely, leaving absolutely nothing behind. On the way here, Amy and I were able to locate what appear to be the foundations, its weak points; there are several, but they are easy to break. On the other hand, we also have to take care of the central computer, not only destroying it but purging all the information it contains, and that is only possible on the machine itself, no remote hacking. It's protected by a reinforced safe, which is tough, but nothing Ames' hammer can't handle. So, the plan is that while Nicole and Amy go to the computer and destroy it, Sonic and I will take care of the structural foundations one by one.
"But then the whole cave would be collapsing with you inside...," Amy observed worriedly.
"Tell me blue, are you faster than a few falling rocks?" Sally asked the hedgehog.
"Pretty sure I am" Although he remained irritated, Sonic couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Well, we'll see about that. We have to coordinate. Not only do we have to collapse the cave and destroy the computer, we also have to communicate with the Freedom team, which has been impossible since we got here, so that we can all evacuate the complex before it implodes."
"If the mission is a success, will you reward us by telling us how much are you hiding from us?" The hedgehog gave the princess a defiant look.
Sally and Nicole exchanged glances, and the squirrel sighed.
"If the mission is a success, and of course it will be... I'll talk to my brother and try to convince him to let us share the information with you..."
"Wow, is it that serious that you have to ask big bro for permission?"
"Yes, I need verbal and written authorization from King Elias to share sensitive information related to the security of the kingdom with (and I'm sorry if this sounds harsh) a group of foreigners... That's how serious it is."
"Okay, I get it..." Sonic shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed for insisting so much, although he was still irritated by the secrecy.
Both couples got together to prepare to leave. At one point, Sally and Amy crossed paths and Amy leaned close to Sally's ear.
"Is it about the Meta-Quartz...?" she whispered.
Having been almost inseparable during those six months of rest, sharing experiences and healing each other's wounds and traumas, it was to be expected that sooner or later the hedgehog would learn the greatest secret of the Kingdom of Acorn . It wasn't easy for Sally to tell her; all the Freedom Fighters, especially Nicole, were against it. It was her brother's blessing that finally convinced her to do it. "If you trust her enough to feel the need to tell her, go ahead," he said. "But as always, you must take responsibility. Not only for what happens to the kingdom, but to her. Remember what Dad used to say: just knowing about the Meta-Quartz is a curse." From time to time, Sally wondered if she had done the right thing.
"Yes... He mustn't know, no one must. Not yet..."
Amy took Sally's hand and squeezed it tightly, her way of saying she understood and wouldn't tell anyone. It had been a while since she told her, and if her "beloved" Sonic still didn't know, that meant Amy was completely trustworthy. Sally felt a little calmer.
"You don't go crazy fast, do you?" the lynx asked Amy.
"Sadly, no. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, I prefer it that way," Nicole then approached Sonic. "Please, make sure nothing happens to Sally, I beg you."
"I can hear you, you know? I don't need babysitters," complained the princess.
"Don't worry, Nic. I'm an excellent chaperone."
"No, of course you're not," corrected the pink hedgehog.
"Amy~, I'm trying to reassure our friend~."
"There's no need to lie."
"May Gaia help us..." Nicole prayed to the heavens.
As Nicole and Amy entered the southern cave exit, Sonic picked up Sally and began to accumulate speed until his feet blurred into an infinity symbol. He shot toward the walls of the gallery and began to run on them as if gravity were only a suggestion to him until he reached the northern cave exit.
Maverick Lore: The "Curse" of Meta-Quartz
"For centuries, the Kingdom of Acorn has had a quasi-mythological status for other cultures, due to the existence of Meta-Quartz, a unique resource that is (so far) exclusive to our region.
[...] It is said that King Abdullah III, ruler of the territory that centuries later would be known as Shamar, traveled west in search of "The Heart of Chaos," which is speculated to have been the Master Emerald. On his travels, he met Adam Oak, whom he called a "king without a kingdom," for he possessed the Castle of Dreams, but had no subjects, at least not "real" ones, only illusions believed to have been created by Adam with the help of Meta-Quartz. When Abdullah asked Adam how he had achieved such a miracle, Adam presented him with the first Meta-Quartz stone ever unearthed in history, no larger than a jewel for a ring. The moment Abdullah touched the stone, a small toy carriage appeared in front of him, one he remembered losing as a child. The king was delighted, even enthralled. Adam gave him the stone as a gesture of goodwill, and when Abdullah asked him where he had found it, Adam happily guided him to the site. But no matter how much he dug, Abdullah could not find anything.
King Abdullah continued his journey, which ended unsuccessfully as he could find nothing, neither the Master Emerald nor more Meta-Quartz. He returned to his kingdom defeated and unable to forget the wonderful stone that made dreams come true. He spent decades searching his entire territory for a stone with the same abilities, but found nothing. He sent explorers to find that Dream Castle and dig up its soil in search of the stone, but they could never find such a castle, as if it had never existed, just like a dream.
In his obsession with finding the stone, Abdullah led his kingdom to economic ruin, which culminated in a civil war that led to his eventual overthrow and an era of obscurantism in the region.
(Excerpt from the book Myths, Legends, and Truths of the Crown of Acorn, Vol. 4, by Jupiner Acorn)
"Is this the curse father talks about so much?"
(Note found at the bottom of the page of the same book. Author unknown)