Slayers Fan Fiction / Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams & Memories: Hellmaster Returns ❯ Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Dreams & Memories: Hellmaster Returns

Characters of Sonic the Hedgehog by: Yuji Naka and Ken Penners
of The Slayers by: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa
written by: Maurice A. Nigma
Written: 10-24-2004

"Those fools thought that they've gotten rid of me," the creature thought to itself as it continued to feast upon the negative emotions of the young woman that he now inhabited from within the darkness of her mind. "Even my own mother, the creator of everything, thought that she was rid of my existence. Well, I'll soon show her that I'm more than just a mere Monster Lord who came into existence just to serve Lord Ruby Eye.
I'll show all of them! Lina Inverse: the one who called upon the power of my mother in order to wipe me off of the face of existence! She and her foolish friends thought that they were rid of me while I was occupying myself inside of the mind of one of them. The mind of the shrine maiden who was heartbroken when she found that she had no chance of winning the heart of the swordsman who once wielded the Sword of Light. For two years, I've waited in the shrine maiden's body in order to reappear. Waiting for the right time to reappear into the real world and destroy everything in my path.
That was when until she traveled into another world that's more advanced than the one that I used to roam in. A world where she met a human named Miguel Angel Arias and beast men that were different from the ones that I've saw in my world. I also watched them all fight a creature that has a power that's beyond the one I've once held. A power that so strong that I doubt Lord Ruby Eye himself could ever defeat it.
But little did I realize that the appearance of that creature would also open a window of opportunity for me to reappear into the real world. By nearly killing the purple-haired shrine maiden with one of its parts, she was able to absorb that part and make it a part of her own body. But little did she and her new friends know that its also the key to my resurrection. All I have to do is bind my time and absorb the negative energy that I receive from this girl for while she's having those horrible dreams about her future as well as re-experiencing her horrible memories. And when the time is right, I'll be making the most famous rebirth more famous than both Lord Ruby Eye and Zanaffar combined! For soon they would know that Hellmaster Phibrizzo will soon return! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

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It was about the middle of the night for when Sylphiel Nels Lahda awoke another dream of fright and terror as she screamed to the top of her lungs with horror. Her purple nightgown was drenched with sweat as the shrine maiden breathed in and out for air. She has been experiencing these kinds of dreams for almost about half a year now since she rejoined the group and lately it was starting to get to her.
Ever since her encounter with Miguel and her new friends and her near death experience with the creature Nightmare Parasite, she was starting to worry a bit about her new hidden abilities. Abilities that allowed her to control the powerful forces of the Chaos Emeralds in order to increase her natural abilities. But that wasn't what scared her the most. What scared Sylphiel the most is that she would one day become almost as powerful as Miguel was for when she saw him transform into his most supreme form in order to fight Naturon Gaav in Seyruun a few months back.
"Those dreams," the shrine maiden thought as she began to recall the dreams that she just experienced, "they were all nothing but nightmares and reoccurring memories. Now, tonight's dream was worse than before. I dreamt that a familiar and evil voice was saying how it was going to come back to this world using me as a catalyst for its rebirth. The voice is also connected to my past. Why is this happening to me now?"
It all started for when she was traveling along with her friends: Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, and Zelgadis Greywords on a journey to Atlas City. As usual, Lina would blow up a team of bandits, she and Gourry would fight over meals, Amelia would make one of her justice speeches for whenever there's someone committing a wrong, and Zelgadis would sigh with a bit of annoyance for whenever the group would do something stupid or if Xellos appeared just to give a friendly hello. However, when they entered the inn that they've just come across in Atlas City, her dreams were becoming worse with each night they've spent there.
"Sylphiel! Are you okay in there?!" she heard the voice of Lina Inverse shouting with worry from behind her door as she also heard banging coming from it. "Is something wrong in there?"
"Lina! Don't make so much noise or you're going to wake up everyone in the building!" Sylphiel heard the voice of Gourry saying to the red-head with a worried tone.
"Shut up, Jelly Fish Brains! Sylphiel's yelling probably woke everyone in the inn anyway without my help!" Lina replied as the shrine maiden saw her friend breaking down the door and walking into her room with a red night gown a bit wrinkled.
"Oh, Miss Lina! Gourry!" the shrine maiden found herself saying as she began to hug the red head with all of her strength. "Thank goodness that you're all alright! I had a dream where I heard a voice that said that came from my past and he...he....he...."
Before she could have the chance to finish her ranting, Sylphiel began to fall into unconsciousness without any warning. As she fell back into her deep sleep, the young woman began to think these words, "Miss Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Mr. Zelgadis, Mr. Xellos, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, and Miguel....where....are you? Help...meee..."

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As soon as he awoke from his deep sleep, Miguel began to jump up for when he felt something both terrifying and devastating.
"Oh my....Sylphiel!" he thought to himself as he looked around and saw that he was still lying on his bed while being wrapped by his own blankets. He also saw that he was still in his room that shone with the morning sun.
He then started to get off of his bed, put on his loafers, and began to open the door for when he saw that no one was in the kitchen or in any place in his home.
"Good, everyone's gone for the day," Miguel thought to himself as he looked and saw a note from his parents. "Looks like both mom and dad took Eliana with them in order to get the new car. Knowing them, it could be a while before they got back. Now I could focus on other things. Like that feeling that I've felt. Something terrible must've happened to Sylphiel. I don't know how but I've felt that she's in danger. Well, I got to get ready to go to her world as soon as possible."
With that thought done in his mind, the teen began to quickly changed from his night wear into his usual clothing of a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. As soon as he was finally ready, Miguel was about to take out his mystic weapon when a thought of contacting his other worldly friends to let them know about the situation occurred to him, but decided to ignore it.
"I can handle anything that Sylphiel's world could throw at me without the help of the guys," Miguel thought to himself as he reached behind his back and pulled out the Star Sword from its resting place. "They'll understand what I'm doing once I've explained it to them for when I get back. Right now, I've got to focus on seeing if Sylphiel's alright. Well, Four Worlds here I come."
With that thought finished in his mind, the teen began to travel to the wide-spaced living room and started to point his weapon's blade in front of him. He then started to close both of his eyes and began to focus on to where he wants to go. Before he could have the chance to open his eyes, Miguel felt the presense of powerful Chaos Energy flowing from within the room. As soon as he opened his eyelids, he was looking directly at a huge ring portal that's about his size.
"Don't worry Sylphiel, I'm on my way," he thought just before he leaped at the portal and was traveling across the tunnel between time and space in order to get to his destination.

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"It appears as though the boy has finally decided to take matters into his own hands," the brown echidna with beaded dread locks and a walking stick said to his three omnipotent masters. "He'd felt something amiss from within the shrine maiden through the mystic alinement of the Four Worlds."
"That could mean that the one who once served as the Golden Lord's beast of destruction has decided to make his existence a reality once more," one of the beings said with an elderly and serious tone. "It was just a matter of time before he would decided to make his reappearance into that world."
"And if he were to reappear in that world where both Lord Ruby Eye and Ciephied reside, he could cause nothing but damage to the world's natural balance," replied the second being while beginning to sound a bit worried. "We must step in and take care of this threat or otherwise, if he finds that the Silver Lord has not yet fully restored his powers, absolutely nothing could stop him or the creature Nightmare Parasite that still existences."
"Then of course, immediate action must be taken against this threat at once," said the third while the three of them all looked at their loyal servant who was standing near the pool with what appears to be Chaos Emeralds in it. "Athair, we want you to go to Mobius and info your great-grandson that the human Miguel has left for the Four Worlds."
"But wouldn't that unveil some of the things that the human boy has already learned about himself so far," the brown echidna asked his masters with a bit of confusion. "I mean, he's still not fully aware of the great powers that lie dormant within him. If he were to learn about his powers and your identities too soon, then..."
"Do not worry, Athair," the first being responded to Athair with a calm tone. "Knuckles will only see your visit as a coincidence and nothing more. Just don't mention any information that would concern the human's dormant and awakening power."
"I will do my best, wise ones," the brown echidna responded to his masters as he began to fade from the dimension that the ancient ones hold dominion in.

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While daybreak finally raised up from the mountains, Lina Inverse was doing her very best to wake up her friend Sylphiel from her deep sleep. Unfortunately, slapping the purple-haired priestess hard across the face didn't help with the situation.
"Sylphiel, wake up now!" Lina shouted while continuing to slap her friend on the cheek. "If this is some kind of joke, I'm not laughing! Wake up!"
"Lina! Get a hold of yourself!" Zelgadis said to her while still feeling a bit tired after being woken up suddenly by the Sylphiel's shouting in the middle of the night. "You can't just get Sylphiel to wake up like that! You've been at it for hours! Now just calm down and think about it before you give her a red face!"
"Mr. Zelgadis is right, Miss Lina," Amelia added while letting in a big yawn for the moment. "There's no need for you to start panicking while slapping poor Miss Sylphiel. So stop and think about something else to do for her other than slapping Miss Sylphiel on the face."
As soon as the words of the princess of Seyruun hit the red-head, Lina began to calm down a bit and started to turn her attention back towards her friends. Soon she began to say to them, "Well, what are we suppose to do then? We can't just leave her like this."
"Well, I think that Sylphiel might be just tired from last night, Lina" Gourry said to the sorceress. "So how about we just leave her alone and...?"
That was when Lina began to hit her blonde companion on the head with her bare fist causing him to fall right to the wooden floor with a loud thump.
"It's not something as simple as that, Jellyfish Brains!" the sorceress said to Gourry with a sarcastic tone while rubbing her fist in order to calm the pain she received on it. "If she were in normal circumstances then she would have woken up from all my slaps by now! But she's looks as though she were brought into a trance-like sleep!"
"I see that everything here's about as peachy as always," someone said to the group, startling them a bit before they've realized that it is Xellos appearing right out of the blue. "Oh, and exactly what happened to Miss Sylphiel that caused Miss Lina to slap her hard enough to receive those red marks on her pretty face?"
"I thought that you would know the answer to that question, Xellos!" Zelgadis responded to the Monster's words with his hand on his sword's handle. "Just exactly what are you doing here anyway and what did you do to Sylphiel?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Zelgadis," the purple-haired priest answered with an innocent look on his face. "I was just merely passing by when I..."
However, the Trickster Priest's words were cut short for when he walked to towards the bed where the unconscious shrine maiden lie. Then he soon started to sense something that caused him to go on his knees on the wooden floor of the bedroom. Using his staff like a support cane, the Monster soon started to lose his strength with each passing moment.
"Mr. Xellos! Are you okay?!" Amelia asked the purple-haired priest as she tried her best to lift him off of the floor.
"I may not be an expert on Monsters guys , but I don't think that he's suppose to be doing that for when he's around us," Gourry said as a rare moment of inspiration began to pop into his head.
"Well, for once, I have to agree with Gourry!" Lina agreed as she went towards both Xellos' and Amelia's direction in order to find out what was happening to the Monster. "Xellos looks as though he were being drained!"
But just as she was about to get even closer to the purple-haired priest, a sudden shroud of darkness started to appear out of nowhere without any warning. The black cloud then started to take on the form of a huge snake-like creature with huge angel-like wings on its back.
"What the hell!? What in Ciephied's name is that thing!?" Lina shouted out loud before she started to look for the source of the blackness that now shrouded the room.
"It's coming from where Sylphiel's lying!" Zelgadis answered as he pointed his finger where the shrine maiden was sleeping. "Just look!"
As soon as she turned her full attention back towards Sylphiel and saw what she couldn't believe. What Lina saw was a black shade of darkness being emitted from the shrine maiden's body. It was coming out of Sylphiel's body like water from a fountain.
"What the hell is happening to Sylphiel?! Her body is emitting a dark energy that sort of felt familiar. Almost as if..." that was all Lina could think to herself as her way was soon blocked by the winged-snake creature that was hissing for her to move back. "Damn! That thing's pretty fast for a huge rope filled with fat scales and wings. But what concerns me the most is how in the world did that thing came out of Sylphiel to begin with?"
Before she could receive an answer to her question, the sorceress soon found herself being paralyzed by the dark snake creature's stare. The evil entity then started to charge towards her with its fangs baring, readying to take a chunk of her flesh.
"Lina!!" she heard Gourry scream with horror in his voice just as the dark creature was about to lung for Lina's body.
However, when Lina closed her eyes expecting a set of fangs puncturing through her body like a piece of meat, she heard a familiar male voice shouting out, "Lightning Blade!"
The sorceress then began to feel a powerful surge of energy coursing through her body as she heard the sound of a blade slicing through flesh. When she opened both of her eyelids, Lina was frozen for when she saw the huge winged-snake only standing still doing nothing. Then she started to look on with horror and shock for when she saw the dark creature being split in half like a butcher with a huge knife.
"What the....?! Who?!" was all the sorceress could say before she saw the remains of the creature fading from existence and saw who just saved her life.

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As soon as he saw that the large winged-snake creature was no more, Miguel began to focus his attention back towards Lina, who he saw was alright and unharmed.
"She's scared out of her wits, but she'll live," the teen thought to himself as he turned his full attention towards Xellos who he saw was becoming weaker by the minute as he being held by the princess of Seyruun. "Just what exactly happened to Xellos? He looks as though he had been hit by one of Lina's Dragon Slave Spells. But knowing the guy, he could easily teleport out of the way if he wanted and...."
Miguel's thoughts were soon cut short for when he heard Lina saying to him, "Miguel?! What in the world are you doing here in this world?! And what took you so long?! That thing about to make a rib special out of me!!"
"Well gee, you're welcome, Lina," the teen answered the sorceress simply with a sarcastic tone as he began to walk over towards Sylphiel's unconscious form while still feeling the dark disturbance present within her. "I've arrived here to this world because I've sensed that Sylphiel is in danger.
"I've felt something disturbing for while I was dreaming. I heard Sylphiel shouting our names as I saw her being engulfed with a dark cloud that seems to be laughing. I've also felt the same dark energy coming from that creature that I'm feeling from within Sylphiel right now. As soon as I woke up, I immediately started to get to this world. But now what I want to know is why that snake creature suddenly appeared out of Sylphiel's body to began with? And why is Xellos weak as a kitten?"
"That's what I want to find out!" Zelgadis responded to the teen's question as he saw the chimera walking up towards both Amelia and Xellos and started to grab the Monster by the collar while throttling him. "Alright, Xellos! What's going on here?! We all know that it was you that started the whole...!!!"
That was when the Zelgadis' shouting words were cut short by the priest's sudden intake for breath as he and everyone else in the room saw all of his dark energy being sucked right out of him and into the shrine maiden's body. He heard Xellos screaming painfully as he saw his astral energy being taken away from him by the mysterious force.
"What in the world is happening to Mr. Xellos?!" Miguel heard Amelia shouting to everyone as he kept his eyes on the screaming Monster.
"It looks as though his astral energy was being taken away from him!" Lina answered, "The source is coming straight from Sylphiel's body! If we don't do something to stop it soon, then he'll be...!"
Without a moments hesitation, Miguel began to hold onto his Star Sword's handle very tightly and started to charge towards the shrine maiden's unconscious form at a very great speed while concentrating his own mental powers to search for his target.
"Miguel, wait! Think about what you're doing!" he heard Gourry shouting to him as he closed in on the Sylphiel's sleeping form as he ignored the shouts of all the others. "Killing Sylphiel would only make you just as bad as a Monster! Don't you care about her!? If you kill her just to save Xellos' life, then I'll...!!!"
He just ignored the rest of the blonde swordsman's words as he finally reached Sylphiel's unconscious body and swung his blade towards her praying that he would hit his target other than the shrine maiden's head.
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He was only half conscious for when the Monster priest saw what caused the group to gasp with surprise all of a sudden. When he opened his eyes, Xellos saw that the human from outside of the Four Worlds, Miguel, had just put down his sword's blade towards the shrine maiden and just sliced through the shroud of darkness that once got a hold of him, barely missing the young woman's head by one foot.
"Because his target wasn't Miss Sylphiel," the Monster thought to himself as he felt the hold over his astral essence being released. "It seems that the boy knew exactly what he was doing for when he swung his weapon's blade at whatever was stealing my astral essence. But what mystified me the most is that I could've sworn that I've felt something like it before. The energy was a bit vague, but familiar.
The last time that I've felt something like it was at the time I was near the presense of Lord Hell...."
The Trickster Priest stopped his thoughts for when he suddenly realized what he was about to think about. Xellos then turned his full focus back at the scene where Lina was walking towards Miguel with an angry expression on her face.
"Miguel! Are you out of your mind?!" he heard the sorceress shouting to the young man as she began to throttle him around the collar. "You could've killed Sylphiel with that little stunt of yours!"
"Hey! Hands off, lady! I was just trying to save her and Xellos from being consumed!" the Monster priest heard Miguel responding to Lina's words with a serious tone in his own voice as he pushed the sorceress' hands away from him. "If I hadn't done that, then the little leprechaun would been eaten like a bowl of chicken soup!"
"You make it sound like a bad thing, Miguel," Xellos heard the chimera Zelgadis saying to the boy's words with a sarcastic tone in his voice. "We could've been much better off if you hadn't did that stunt of yours. That way, we won't have to deal with those headaches we get from him no more."
"Hey, I hate the little prick almost as much as you do, Zel," the Monster heard the young man saying to the chimera while still containing his serious tone. "But something was draining him of all of his energy like Lina at an all-you-can-eat buffet!"
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Xellos heard Lina respond to the young man's words with a bit of annoyance in her voice.
"The point is, whatever was draining Xellos of his astral energy is coming straight from Sylphiel's body," the young man added while Xellos saw him gleaming at the shrine maiden's body with worry. "But what I'm most worried about is what exactly is in her body anyway?"
As his sight was beginning to become shrouded with darkness, the Monster priest gathered the remainder of his strength just to say the name of the culprit to everyone in the room. A name that he never thought he would utter again, "Hell....mas...ter.....Phi.....bri......zzooooo."
That was the only word that Xellos could utter out before the darkness could shroud his eyesight completely and fell into a deep sleep.

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"That damn that boy!" the Hellmaster Phibrizzo thought to himself as he looked at the scene from his domain in the shrine maiden's mind. "If he hadn't sliced out my manifest minion and sliced off my astral hold on Xellos, then I would be free already! I guess that the option that I have left now is to continue draining the shrine maiden of all of her potent negative energy for me to be released from this limbo!"
The Monster then turned his full attention back to his own hand, which looked as though it were sliced with a huge knife of some type.
"That sword that the boy used," he thought to himself as he looked at his regenerating hand, "it's unlike any other weapon that I've ever seen. Even the Sword of Light couldn't be able to put a single scratch on my body. That weapon was not only able to break my hold on Xellos' astral essence but tear apart of my own astral body as well."
When the former Dark Lord subordinate turned his full attention back towards the scene in his lair, he soon started to point all of his eyes towards the young man responsible for his hands' dismemberment.
"That boy," he thought while looking at him carefully, "he's the one that the shrine maiden worked with in order to take down that creature that I've saw. He possesses a great amount of power for when he uses that sword of his. He can also become a being that possess almost nearly limitless power. He even defeated that fool Naturon for trying to use that gem's infinite power for his own benefit. The gem that they know as the Chaos Emerald.
Not only that, but he seems to have possess a power that is beyond that of both Lord Ruby Eye and Ciephied combined. He seems to possess secrets that are almost as great as my mother: the Lord of Nightmares. Whatever it is, it's not a threat to me right now. As long as I'm in this dimension, neither of those fools suspect that I'm even in here! In order to wake their pretty friend, they'll have to come in her mind to wake her up from her reenacting nightmares and memories! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

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After seeing the Monster fall into unconsciousness, Miguel was a bit bewildered for what the Xellos said to all of them.
"What did Xellos mean by what he said to us?" he thought to himself as he saw Zelgadis picking up the Monster's unconscious form. "It didn't sound like he was trying to pull any tricks on us. I didn't feel his astral presense being responsible for Sylphiel's condition. Then that means that something else was...."
The young man's attention was then drawn back onto the sleeping form of Sylphiel. He started to ignore the thought that he had and started to walk towards the shrine maiden. The young man blushed a bit for when he noticed the young woman still in her purple nightgown as he examined her. He saw that she was breathing normally and she doesn't seem to be in any harm. That, and the fact that he also saw red all over the shrine maiden's cheeks.
"Can any of you tell me what's happened to Sylphiel?" Miguel began to ask everyone in the room so that he might be able to receive his answer. "I know that the red marks are your doing, Lina. But what happened to her before I've arrived here?"
After waiting a moment for an answer, he began to hear Lina saying to him rather sheepishly, "Well, last night, Sylphiel was screaming like a Monster was trying to rape her or something. When both me and Gourry got into her room, she started to hug me and told us that she had a terrible dream and, before we knew it, she fell into unconsciousness. That dream must've been pretty horrible in order to wake her up and make her scream that badly."
"And I can guess that you must've tried everything that you could to wake her up, right Lina?" Miguel asked skeptically to the sorceress as he pointed to the shrine maiden's still redden face.
"Yep! You got that right!" Zelgadis answered with a smart tone. "She's been shaking and slapping the life out of the poor girl ever since the crack of dawn."
"That's not important right now!" Lina shouted as she cracked the knuckles of both her fists. "Right now, we have to find out what caused Sylphiel to wake up screaming and suddenly fainted soon after!"
"But Lina, exactly how are we going to do that?" Gourry asked as Miguel turned towards the blonde swordsman's direction, "All we got is what Xellos just said to us before he fell unconscious."
Miguel thought about what Gourry said for the moment and then turned his attention towards Amelia, who he saw was putting the purple-haired priest on a soft couch.
"Amelia, I seemed to have noticed that Xellos was trying to say something to us," the young man said to the princess of Seyruun. "Did you manage to hear what he said just before he fell unconscious?"
"Well, I couldn't quite make out what he said exactly," Amelia said as she finished laying the Monster on the sofa. "But I think that he said it like this: 'Hell....mas...ter.....Phi.....bri......zzooooo.' or something like that."
Miguel started to think about the words that Amelia said for the moment and tried to put the puzzle together in his mind.
"Hmm. Hell....mas...ter.....Phi.....bri......zzooooo.? That doesn't make a lot of sense," the teen thought to himself as he tried to piece the puzzle in his mind. "Just what was that leprechaun trying to tell us? I'm sure that it must have something to do with what he'd just experienced earlier. I only wish that I have left a message for the guys on Mobius before I've left so that way we could figure it out together."
"Uh, Miguel. Hello? Is anyone alive in there?" Miguel heard the voice of Lina saying to him while he saw her waving her hand in front of his face.
"Calm down, Lina. I'm still alive," the teen responded to the sorceress's words by pushing her hand with his own. "I was just thinking about what Xellos tried to say us for before he fell unconscious. There's no need for you to do that."
"Well, whatever that Monster said, it's pretty useless," Zelgadis answered as Miguel saw him walking towards his direction. "I doubt that he would just give us a clear answer. For all we know, it could be just plain rubbish."
"Well, we can't just stand here do nothing!" Lina said to the chimera as Miguel was beginning to see the sorceress becoming annoyed. "Just how are we going to figure out what happened to Sylphiel when all we have to go with is just a mumbled word from Xellos! If only someone could tell us what's going on!"
"I could answer that question, young lady," Miguel suddenly heard an elderly voice answering the sorceress as he turned and saw something he never expected to see.
What he saw was an echidna that almost looks identical to his red friend Knuckles. Only that the color of this echidna's skin was brown instead of red like his tough friend. He was rather elderly for while he also carried a wooden type of cane that supported him like a third leg. He also wore a type of jewelry that looks like colored beads. His dread locks were also longer than that of Knuckles' as well.
"Oh, great! Just what we needed: another animal-like being from the planet called Mobius!" Miguel heard the red-haired sorceress saying while not feeling a bit too enthusiastic.
"Just who in the hell are you old timer?!" he heard Zelgadis saying to the old echidna while noticing that the chimera was starting to become a bit suspicious of the visitor while seeing him beginning to go for his sword.
"There's no need for you to start disrespecting your elders, young man," the elderly visitor said to Zelgadis with a mild tone in his voice. "I just came to assist all of you in your current predicament."
Miguel soon began to see the old echidna starting to turn his elderly face towards his direction and said, "Ah! Miguel Angel Arias. My masters speak very highly of you. I been waiting to meet you for some time now."
As he was stunned by the echidna's words, Miguel began to say to the elderly echidna with a shocked tone, "Okay! I want to know a few things: Who are you and what are you doing here? As a matter of fact, how did you know all about me?"
"Hee! Hee! Hee! You are certainly a unique human to talk to, Miguel," replied the brown echidna as he gave the young man a warm smile. "As for who I am, you and your friends may call me Athair. Now for the reason why I'm here and how I know about you. You see, my masters and I were watching both you and the shrine maiden named Sylphiel when we saw who was responsible for your young and pretty friend's aliment and it was not the Monster priest Xellos as the gentleman Zelgadis Greywords claims."
"You know who caused Miss Sylphiel's to be in her current condition, Mr. Athair?" Miguel heard Amelia saying to the brown echidna with amazement in her voice.
"That is correct, young lady," Athair answered the princess with a bit of amusement in his voice. "You're a bit energetic aren't you? Well, as I was saying, my masters and I have saw the culprit responsible for Lady Sylphiel's current condition. He's inside of her very mind feeding off of the negative energy that she emits from her past dreams and memories in order to come back to this world."
"Just how was that possible, Uther?" Miguel heard Gourry ask the mysterious visitor with his usual clueless expression on his face.
"The name is Athair, former Swordsman of Light," Athair corrected the blonde swordsman with his voice never losing its patience while chuckling a bit at the same time. "As for your question, my masters and I found a small portion of this creature's spirit embedded into Lady Sylphiel's mind and has been long dormant within the shrine maiden's body, awaiting for the day for when he could finally rise again."
"Okay old man, now you're starting to make sense!" Miguel heard Lina saying to the brown elderly echidna while seeing that she was a bit calmer than she did before. "But what I don't know is who would do such a thing to Sylphiel while inside of her mind?"
"I believe that you already know the answer to that question, Lady Inverse," Athair responded as Miguel was becoming confused at what he meant. "In fact, both you, your friends, and Miguel know him for when since he....."
"Look, Sylphiel's life could be in danger, old man!" Zelgadis said to the old man as he was becoming impatient. "If we waste our time like this, then she's going to die! Now get to the point!"
"Whoa! Take it easy, Zel!" Miguel said to the chimera as he did his best to calm his friend down. "Athair is just doing his best to help us with Sylphiel's condition. Now calm down and let him finish talking."
"That's very kind of you to try to defend me, Miguel," Athair said to the teen while keeping the coolness in his voice, "but the chimera has a point and I best better get into the point before things get rather out of hand. Now, even as I speak, my great grandson, Knuckles and his friends should be arriving to this world very shortly."
"What!? You're Knuckles' great grandfather?!" Lina said with a bit shock in her voice. "Damn! You must be over a hundred years old! Did you take any vitamins or something?!"
"Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, let's just say that the power of the Chaos Emeralds has something to do with it, young lady," the brown echidna answered the sorceress with a soft chuckle. "But it's too long a story to be discussing right now."
As he saw the elderly echidna walking towards him, Miguel began to see a small green crystal shard emitting a green light from within his gloved hand. "Miguel, I have something to give to you that I think that you might find quite useful."
"What is it that you're giving to me, Athair?" the teen asked as the visitor placed the jewel shard into his hand.
"That is a modified shard of one of the Chaos Emeralds, young man," Athair answered as he was starting to turn towards the door. "However, unlike a full Chaos Emerald, this shard won't be able to rage out of control for when it absorbs the Chaotic energies of the Lord of Nightmares. As soon as you activate its power, you'll know what to do, Miguel. Only you would be able to save the young woman that you love from a fate that is worse than death itself. Now I wish you good luck and may our paths pass again someday."
As he saw the brown echidna walking out of the door, Miguel began to see Zelgadis giving chase to the elder as he shouted, "Just where do you think you're going, old man? You're not going anywhere until...!!"
His words were then cut short for when Miguel saw the chimera opening the door. All the outer worldly teen saw on Zelgadis' face was an expression of shock and surprise.
"What is it, Mr. Zelgadis?" Amelia began to ask the shaman as Miguel saw her going outside of the door that her friend went through.
"He's..he's gone," the chimera answered the young girl with a stutter as he still stood frozen like a statue. "That brown talking echidna just up and vanished! Into thin air!"
"Well, it doesn't matter now that he's disappeared out of thin air, guys," Miguel heard Gourry saying to his two friends. "What matters now is how are we all going to save Sylphiel from what she's going through. Athair said that Miguel can somehow release her from her trance, right?"
"Well, for once, Gourry has made a point, guys," the teen heard Lina saying to her two friends with agreement as he saw her turning her full attention towards him. "Miguel, that brown echidna said that you can use that stone to help Sylphiel, right? So starting using it already and help her!"
"Well, I'd like to Lina, but...." was all Miguel could say before his words were cut short by a familiar voice that has a bit of a smart-aleck tone in it as it was being emitted through the window.
"Looks to us that the four of us made it here just in time for the party. Do all of you plan on inviting us in or do we have to wait for an invitation?"
When Miguel turned towards the window to see who it was, the person was none other than the blue blur himself: Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Sonic! It's about time that you got here!" the teen said as he saw the blue hedgehog hanging from the railing of the window and got in the bedroom. "Just how did you guys manage to get here so fast anyway?"
"And don't you know how to use a door?" Lina shouted to the blue hedgehog with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "People would start to think that you're a spy from the Monster Race!"
"Whoa! Easy there, mad dog!" the blue Mobian said to the sorceress as he tried his best to calm the girl down. "It's not like that we got here without a purpose."
"Knuckles came to both me and Sonic saying that Athair saw you going to this world in order to help Sylphiel," Miguel heard the voice of Sonic's two-tailed friend Tails adding to his best friend's words as he flew from the window that the blue hedgehog came from.
"Those guys aren't the only ones that made it to the party!" said another voice who flew from the window and revealed himself to be Knuckles the Echidna. "We also got Shadow to come along with us as well."
"Speaking of Sonic's twin brother, where is he?" Miguel heard Zelgadis asking the red echidna with his usual tone of voice as he saw both the chimera and Amelia approaching back inside of the room. "It doesn't seem to me that he's with you guys."
"That's where you're wrong, stone man" the voice of another visitor appeared from out of the shadows of the curtains and revealed himself to be none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. "I'll always be wherever my friends need me the most. That's all that you need to know."
"Mr. Shadow, you're sort of creeping me out with that entrance," the princess said to the black hedgehog as she held the arm of a blushing Zelgadis very tightly. "That's no way for a hero of justice to be acting."
"So it looks as though as the whole gang is all here," Gourry said with a smile on his face. "So now we can find out what's going on with Sylphiel."
"I agree with Gourry on this one, guys," Miguel began to say to everyone as he looked at both his friends and turned his attention back towards Sylphiel's sleeping form. "Now that everyone's here, I think that we all should focus on trying to wake Sylphiel up from her slumber. But first, some questions need to be answered."
The teen turned his attention toward Knuckles and asked him, "Knuckles, were you visited by a brown echidna named Athair? If so, then what did he told you before you went to the others for their help to get to this world?"
"(Sighs) Well, it's quite a long story, but I'm going to try to keep short as much as I can," the red echidna said as his voice sounded annoyed somewhat. "So here it is: a brief story of my family history and the reason why my great grandfather told me and the others to come to this world, so it is..."
That was when the red echidna's explanation began for as soon as everyone in the room gathered around him.


End of Part 1