Princess and Mystic

After a few minutes, the Human girl led Sonic, Tails and Amy to a large building that was in the center of the city.

The three Mobians turned their heads upwards to look at the cathedral-like structure. Under the moonlight, it had the appearance of being made of gold. It had a very sharp and powerful appearance, almost something like sun-fire decorating the exterior. Above a set of large, mahogany doors was a large stain glass window that had the image of Soleanna's crest.

"This place is huge." Amy breathed in awe.

"Guys," Tails whispered in amazement, "this is the Temple of Solaris."

"Yeah, what about it?" Sonic asked, sounding more disinterested than curious.

Tails was about to answer the question when the Human girl opened one of the large doors.

"In here," she ushered.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy followed the girl inside the Temple and she closed the door behind them. They soon found themselves standing inside of an annex that was lit by only two torches that were on opposite sides of the door.

"This way," the girl said.

The girl walked towards another entrance just in front of them. It led into a long tunnel that had a golden light shining at the end of it. The three Mobians simply obeyed orders and followed the girl through the tunnel.

As they got closer towards the light at the end, Sonic began to feel a strange warmth growing stronger and stronger with each step they took. It was like the summer sun had leaked its rays through the building's walls.

Finally, the group of four walked out of the tunnel. Sonic, Tails, and Amy all stopped for a moment and stared in wonder at the sight before them.

The chamber was large, rectangular, and looked as if it was made of something like pure white marble. On each side of the chamber, there were large arching doorways that led into other rooms that seemed to be just as big as the main room. There were also beautiful carvings decorating the walls, ceiling, and pillars. On the far side of the room was a set of stairs that led up to some kind of alter. Behind the alter, there was a small cavity in the wall with the Soleanna symbol of a phoenix carved around it.

The thing that Sonic noticed the most was that the room was as bright as a sunny day, but there was no source of light anywhere to be seen. No lamps, torches, or anything. The room just seemed to alit with an unseen source of sunlight. And it was as warm as summer on the beach.

However, the moment of awe was interrupted by a strong - and rather upset - voice.

"Your Highness, why have you brought those three with you?!"

Sonic, Tails and Amy all snapped out of their trances. They looked straight ahead of them, and were surprised to see five people walking towards them. Four of them were humans, and each of them were wearing oak-brown cloaks with the hoods up, concealing their faces. The shortest one among them, and the one who had white ceremonial robes, was an elderly Mobian Chipmunk.

Once they had gotten within three yards of Sonic and his group, they stopped and stared at the two Mobian Hedgehogs and Fox with suspicion.

"Wait," Tails said, "aren't you the Priests that were in the Torch Ceremony earlier? I remember seeing you."

"And what did you mean by 'Your Highness'?" Amy asked.

As if to answer that question, the mystery Human girl took off her hat. The three Mobians stiffened in shock when they saw that she had short, ruby-red hair, with a thin white headband in it. The moment she turned back to look at them, they recognized her in an instant. She was the one who was in the Torch Ceremony.

It was the Princess of Soleanna; Elise the Third.

"No way!" Sonic exclaimed, pointing at the girl. "YOU'RE the Princess?!"

"Sonic!" Amy scolded harshly. "Don't point at her! It's rude!"

"It's alright, Amy." Elise said calmly. "I expected you would be shocked. That's why I wanted to wait until we got to this Temple before I revealed my identity to you."

Elise then turned to the Priests.

"It's fine, everyone," she said with authority. "These three Mobians rescued me just now. I am certain that we can trust them."

"With all due respect, Princess Elise," the High Priest replied sternly, "you know that the affairs involving Solaris and Mephiles are kept strictly within the Royal Family and Priests. I do not think it is wise to involve outsiders into our council."

Elise narrowed her eyes a little bit. Not in a threatening way, but certainly in a commanding way.

"I am fully cognizant of my duties as a member of the Royal Family, High Priest," she said, "and I understand your concerns. However, I'm afraid that the situation may become more than we can handle on our own. We can't let the past repeat itself."

There was a small silence. Neither the Priest or the Princess wanted to waver from their beliefs. However, Elise seemed to have the strongest gleam of belief and determination in her eyes. Everyone one in the room could see it.

Eventually, the High Priest lowered his head and turned back to the other Priests. He began speaking to them in a soft voice, and they spoke to him in the same way. Their voices were so low and muffled that none of the four bystanders could hear what they were saying clearly.

Sonic leaned over to Tails, raising his right hand and cupping it around his mouth.

"What do you think their talking about?" he whispered.

"I don't know." Tails replied in a hushed voice. "But it's probably something really important."

"You think they'll tell us what it is or not?"

"Not sure. It sounds like a matter of secrecy."

Sonic was about to ask another question when the High Priest gave a small defeated sigh and turned back to the Princess.

"Very well, Princess," he said, almost in a gravely tone. "We will trust your judgment for now. All we hope for is that you know what you're doing."

Elise nodded in understanding.

"Let me consult with them first," she said.

Elise turned to Sonic, Tails and Amy, and bowed respectfully to them.

"Sonic, Tails, Amy," she said with grace, "I thank you all for saving me earlier, and returning the Amulet of Light to me. I know that this is a lot to ask of you, I humbly request for your assistance. I fear that Soleanna will be facing a terrible crisis if we do not act quickly. I have seen how skilled you all are in combat, and I am certain that you can help us. But I leave the choice to you."

Sonic, Tails, and Amy all exchanged both confused and concerned glances. What terrible crisis was Elise talking about?

"Just how bad is the situation here?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If nothing is done soon," Elise replied seriously, "then the world as we know it will be destroyed by darkness."

Sonic looked back at Tails and Amy for a moment. He didn't need to think his decision over. He knew exactly what his answer was. He just wanted to see what their reply would be.

Tails and Amy both just nodded in agreement. Sonic cockily smirked and snickered. He turned back to Elise and winked.

"You can count us in," he answered. "We live for end-of-the-world situations. Sounds like this is going to be fun."

Elise smiled as he eyes lit up with hopefulness. She straightened herself and exhaled deeply.

"Thank you all," she said. "Now before we get started, there are some things that you need to…"

Elise stopped short in her sentence as her eyes cast over onto Sonic's left arm. She gave a mild gasp of surprise when she saw something.

"You're hurt."

Sonic followed Elise's gaze and saw a thin scratch on the upper part of his left arm. He blinked when he remembered that one of the robots from before had managed to graze him a bit with one of its bullets.

"Oh, would you look at that," he shrugged casually. "It's nothing. I get nicks like this all the time."

Elise didn't seem to be listening though. She walked over to Sonic and knelt down to his level. She gently reached out and grabbed his arm in a caring manner. Sonic leaned back a bit with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Uh, what are you doin'? he asked, his voice monotone.

"Just let me take a look." Elise replied, examining the cut on Sonic's arm. "Well, it's not serious, that's good. But still."

Elise then brought her two fingers to her mouth and took in a small breath of air.

"Princess!" the High Priest exclaimed. "You shouldn't! Not in front of them!"

"It's alright, High Priest." Elise simply replied. "I know we can trust them."

Before the High Priest could protest any further, Elise gently blew out a warm breath of air on her fingers. As she did, her fingers began to glow a gentle, bluish-teal color. Sonic, Tails and Amy all jolted a little in shock when they saw that. Elise then opened her eyes and brought her now-glowing fingers over to the cut on Sonic arm. She gently placed her fingers on the wound. The injury glowed the same color for a second. As Elise removed her fingers, the light faded away.

Sonic stared in disbelief. The cut on his arm was completely gone. There wasn't even a scar left behind. It was like it had never been there before.

"What the-?!" he stuttered. "What did you-?! How'd you do that?!"

Elise let go of Sonic's arm and stood up. She took a single step back and brushed some of her hair behind her left ear.

"The Princess is a direct descendent of the Soleanna Royal Family," the High Priest spoke up. "And according to ancient legend, the Sun god our country honors, Solaris, granted magic to the Soleanna Royal Family, and all its descendants."

"Magic?" Amy said, her eyes widening in surprise. "You mean Princess Elise has magic?"

"If that's true," Tails said pensively, "then that would make her a Mystic, wouldn't it?"

Elise slowly nodded.

"Yes, I am a Mystic. You know about Mystics?"

"What's a Mystic, anyway?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've only read a little bit about Mystics." Tails explained. "But from what I gathered, Mystics are people who possess magical powers. They can be either Humans like Elise, or Mobians like us."

"That is true." Elise nodded. "Though I'm afraid that there are very few Mystics left in the world. As far as I know, I'm the only one in Soleanna."

"Well, that must be a bummer." Sonic replied. "But hey, makes you one of a kind, right?"

Elise blinked. She then gave a small smile as Sonic's remark resonated with her.

"But didn't you say that your ancestors got their powers from…uh… this Solaris guy?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Elise answered. "Solaris is our sun god. He protects and watches over Soleanna. Long ago, he granted magic to the Royal Family. He also entrusted the Amulet of Light to the Royal Family to guard and protect."

Elise reached into her hip bag and pulled out the diamond necklace. She displayed it in the palm of her hand for Sonic, Tails, and Amy to see.

"This is the Amulet of Light?" Tails asked.

"Yes," Elise nodded, "and I'm sure that man we encountered before was after it."

"You mean Dr. Eggman." Sonic said casually. "Oh, don't worry about him. The three of us can handle him no problem."

Elise was about to respond to Sonic's statemtn when a beeping sound came from behind her. She, as well as Sonic, Tails, and Amy, all turned to see the High Priest pull out a communicator from under his robe.

"Please, excuse me," he said.

The High Priest hastily walked out of the main room and into one of the side rooms.

"Hey, that was a G.U.N communicator." Tails observed. "But why do you have one?"

"They're helping us with an investigation," a female Priest explained. "An ancient and dangerous artifact was stolen from us. We aren't sure who did it, but G.U.N. is helping us locate the criminal. They have a base up in the northern mountain range."

Tails lowered his gaze towards the ground and brought his hand up to his chin.

"An artifact of Soleanna goes missing," he mumbled thoughtfully. "And Eggman appears out of nowhere."

"Sounds to me like those two events might be connected." Sonic said.

"I agree." Amy replied. "There's no way that this is a coincidence."

"You mean you think this Dr. Eggman is the one who stole the Scepter of Darkness?" Elise said, her eyes showing a small amount of dread.

"Most likely." Sonic said. "It wouldn't be the first time he pulled a stunt like this. He's always looking for the next powerful thing he can use to make Eggmanland. Trust me, this guy has got a lot of time on his hands."

Elise narrowed her eyes into a concerned expression. She gripped the Amulet of Light tightly and held it close to her heart.

"What's wrong, Elise?" Amy asked caringly.

"He has no idea what he's about to unleash." Elise said in a low voice.

At that moment, the High Priest came running back into the room. He stopped when he reached the rest of group. Sonic became a little apprehensive when he saw that the old Chipmunk's eyes were wide with terror, and his face was very pale. Something told the blue Mobian hedgehog that whatever the G.U.N. had told this guy wasn't good.

"High Priest?" Elise inhaled sharply. "What's the matter?"

"Princess," he said fearfully, "I have very bad news."

"What is it?"

The High Priest swallowed hard before saying in a shaken voice.

"Mephiles has been unleashed."

Upon hearing that, Elise and the other Priests all gasped in shock and fear.

"Who's Mephiles?" Sonic asked.

No one answered his question. They were too worried about the news they had been told. It was clear to see that they were struck with pure fright because of it.

Tails and Amy also fell silent and looked at each other with worry. This didn't know what was going on, but it obviously wasn't good. Whoever this Mephiles guy was, he must be someone dangerous to make everyone have a reaction like that.

Finally, Elise broke the silence with an urgent tone in her voice

"How did this happen?! Please, tell me!"

The High Priest took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Well, G.U.N. had managed to find the location of the Scepter of Darkness. The one who had stolen it had set up a base in the ruins in the desert east of here. G.U.N. sent their best team to retrieve it earlier tonight…"