Shadow walked slowly, his hover skates making little clanking sounds against the metal. Every inch of this place screamed "Evil". The Ark hadn't been touched in so long that that that everything looked ancient and forgotten. That didn't take away the flood of memories that overtook the onyx hedgehog. He caught sight of a faded photo of Maria and his chest squeezed. He looked away quickly, trying to avoid any more memories. The only reason he had forced himself to come here was because he thought the old Dr. Gerald Robotnick might have known something about a way to another dimension. He wasn't sure, since the Dr.'s research was mostly centered around Maria. But it was worth a try.

Shadow found the room he was looking for and took hold of the handle. Oddly enough, it was locked! Shadow frowned. Certainly the people who had killed Maria would have searched here. Shadow build up his power and released a chaos spear on the lock. It made a mess, but the door opened. The second Shadow walked in, his adrenaline kicked into hyper speed. Someone had been here recently, but hadn't disturbed the rest of the area. That means whoever was here had somehow teleported! Shadow shot a small chaos spear at the drawer set in case they were locked and yanked them open. Inside, they were stuffed with blue prints and plans. Some formulas, some experiment data. A lot had to do with Shadow, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was that none of it included Maria.

Another interesting fact was the hand writing. It wasn't the quick, clumsy chicken scratch of Gerald's but some sort of elegant script. Shadow read through everything whether he understood it or not and put it all back. Now to figure out how this person's gotten in here. Shadow looked around, noting the obsessive tidiness of the area. His eyes caught a green potion labeled, "Teleport."

"Hmm. Nothing's ever that easy. What have you been doing?" He asked himself as he took a whiff. None of his senses told him it would kill him to drink, so he took a swig and felt an instant convulsion. He dropped the potion, the glass shattering into a million pieces and his knees gave out. An intense pain spread throughout his body and he screamed, then everything went dark.

When Shadow awoke, he was in a very different place. The sky was a a mixture of gold and silver that swirled in an almost magical way. The ground shimmered in a million colors, and Shadow felt an almost warmth spread throughout his body. It was like the second he arrived a small flame grew inside his chest, but it wasn't painful or even unpleasant.

Where is this place? Shadow thought, dazed. Everything's so bright!

"Who are you?" A young, innocent voice asked. Shadow sat up and turned around slowly, his head aching. The voice belonged to a young girl that looked like she belonged in the Victorian Era. She had silky- black, shoulder length ringlets that were tied back from her face with a blue, silk bow. Her eyes were like a liquid silver; sort of unnatural for an eye color. She wore a Victorian dress of many shades of pink. Shadow guessed she was about ten.

"I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog," He said slowly, rubbing his throbbing head, "Where am I?"

The girl looked confused, "Are you feeling pain?"

Shadow nodded.

Her silver eyes widened to almost horror, "You shouldn't be here! How did you get here! Go away! Now!"

Shadow opened one eye with irritation, "Look kid, I've clearly been thrown through a loop here. I took some sort of potion that was supposed to lead me to someone and I ended up here. Can you please take me to someone who has answers for me?"

Her silver eyes hardened, and shifted from silver to gold. Shadow frowned, "What's up with your eyes?"

Her hard expression softened to a proud smile, "I am next in line to be the Watcher of course! But you don't know that, since you're not supposed to be here. Come! I will take you to Mia (M-ee-a) who will see what she can do about you."

Shadow wasn't sure if he was relived, annoyed, or confused. However, he was promised answers if he followed this girl, so he stood up and walked with her, "What's your name?"

She walked with a posture that shouted proper, "Cindra. I was given the name when I arrived. All who arrive are given a new name, and I like this one better."

"What were you called before?"

"Ella. It's dreadful!"

She made a face that looked like shed bitten into a rotten lemon. Shadow didn't find the name so bad, but he was thinking of how Cindra and Ella made Cinderella. He didn't say anything however, thinking it a coincidence. They walked on the rainbow floor for what seemed like hours. There was nothing around them! Only beautiful horizon where gold met rainbow. After a while, Shadow saw a gate in the distance, a huge, glittering gate that looked to have been made of intricately woven threads of gold and silver. The two colors seemed to be the mascot colors around here.

Cindra placed a single, slender finger on the door and it opened fairly quickly. Shadow gaped at what he saw next. Inside were large pots with snow- white trees that grew perfectly straight and branched out at the top. Instead of leaves, the branches grew long, delicate strings that glittered as if they were covered in diamonds. They floated about a foot off of the rainbow ground, and moved slowly as if carried by a gentle breeze.

"This is the Garden of Eternity. It is a symbol of our little paradise! I believe you are the second to come here who does not belong. You should feel grateful," Cindra praised as they passed the possessed trees. Shadow wasn't sure where they were, or why some powerful scientist made a potion to come here, but hoped this Mia person would be able to clear it up.

They passed through endless trees before a silver gate identical to the last appeared. Cindra did the same as before and the gate opened. Now this was crazy!

Inside was a town of millions of houses of the most elegant kind that stood many stories high! They were made of polished cherry wood with ornate carvings. There were more of those trees floating around everywhere, but not as many. There were people, hedgehogs, birds, foxes, dogs, cats you name it! They all had the same unnatural eyes as Cindra. Another thing, they all looked incredibly happy!

Shadow was interrupted by his ogling by Cindra, "Come! Mia's palace is this way."

Cindra whistled lowly and Shadow heard a beautiful song of notes. A magnificent, crimson bird flew overhead and landed gracefully beside her. Cindra hopped on sideways, beckoning Shadow to follow. He hopped up on the bird quickly.

"What is this thing?"

Cindra patted the great bird happily, "This is Audrey, my beautiful phoenix! WE'll be at the palace about, now!" She hopped off then and Shadow took no time in following her. The palace was at least two hundred feet below them! He could make it, but could she?

Before he could contemplate any longer, their falling slowed to a lazy glide to the ground. This place is magnificent!

Cindra smoothed out her dress and motioned for Shadow to go, "Follow the blue carpet. Do not disrespect Mia, for it is a crime we do not take lightly!"

Shadow nodded, thanked her and walked up the ivory steps. If he thought the city was grand, he should have feinted at the sight of this!The gold and silver palace made the houses look like shacks! And it was at least twice as large as Solleanna Palace! The doors opened without any touching as Shadow entered. Inside was so bright Shadow almost couldn't bear to look! It was as if the walls themselves projected light. Shadow wouldn't have been surprised if they could. He walked along the powder blue carpet that seemed to pulsate beneath his feet. He was led to a grand, oak door that opened automatically. Inside, was a large fireplace, silk covered furniture, and elegant decor. Shadow walked by the fireplace when he heard a soft, kind voice.

"Hello Shadow."

He spun around, and saw a tall, beautiful woman with soft, blonde hair that was pulled back like a queen. It was interwoven with a silver thread and blue gems. Her eyes were just like Cindra's, gold that changed to silver and back. She wore a long, blue, Victorian gown with silver interlaced with it. That wasn't what caught Shadow's attention, it was her voice. Not so much the sound, but how she spoke. It reminded him of Maria and it broke his heart to hear.

She smiled softly and gestured to a nearby chair, "Would you sit? I know you haven't been here long, but the trip must have tired you out. Teleporting dimensions in improper way is painful and exhausting."

Shadow nodded in agreement, but didn't sit, "I just need to know where I am, and who has been coming here."

Her smile widened, "Quick to the point, as always. First I'd like to know of your intentions."

Shadow crossed his arms, "My daughter and all of Solleanna is in danger, and this person may be able to help me."

Her now silver eyes widened with fear, shock and sorrow, "Is this person doing this?"

Shadow shook his head, "I don't think so but he may be able to help. It's clear he's gone through dimensions, but I need to go to a specific one. The one Solaris was banished to."

She covered her mouth with her hand, "Solaris? But why?"

Shadow looked in the fireplace, "I need to ensure someone named Dr. Robotnick doesn't get to him. He's the one who's been doing this."

Her eye's showed immense pain, "Gerald Robotnick?"

"He died a long time ago, this is a descendant. Wait! How do you know about Gerald?" He shot her a menacing glare.

She composed herself and folded her hands, "I know a lot about your world, I once walked it. Now on to the important matter. The person you're looking for won't appear for a week in your world time, roughly two weeks in this time."

Shadow felt his temper flare, but held it down like the trained agent he was, "Is there a way for me to wait here until then?"

She nodded, "Of course. You may stay in this palace if you wish. There is a guest room across the hall from Cindra's."

Shadow thanked her and turned to face her, "What was your name before?"

Her eyes snapped to gold and she put up a guarded expression, "It doesn't matter now. I must go, if you need anything, Cindra will help you."

As she headed out, Shadow thought, Why does she look so familiar?