Chapter 10 Relatively Speaking

"(Y/N)! Where are you?!"

Shadow was searching around backstage and had no luck finding you. The crowd outside had thinned and the sun dipped below the horizon. With every second that passed where he couldn't find you, the more irritated he got. He wanted to destroy the magicians for doing what they did. And in front of everyone! It was not only humiliating, but it also gave away where the both of you were! G.U.N. would be hot on your tails in no time. And if G.U.N. caught the both of you...

Checkmate.

Barrett had his feet kicked up on a bench and watched the older magician pack up the last of the props for the show. The boy took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as if enjoying the breath with all his might. "Man, I never thought I'd be able to pull off this magic business! And so fast. Gilbert, if it wasn't for you, I'd be nothing!" he shouted with appreciation to the older magician.

Gilbert sighed and narrowed his eyes at Barrett. "Why did you put a volunteer in the line of danger? We're supposed to ensure that they're safe! And hypnotizing her?? That's a crime, young sir," he scolded. Obviously, Gilbert was much more level-headed than Barrett.

Without a care in the world, Barrett hopped to his feet and did a little twirl. "I was tired of doing the same old routine. I wanted to liven things up for the huge crowd! Did you see their faces?! They were acting like we were giving them free money from that stage!" Barrett excitedly proclaimed with his hand extended towards the stage.

Gilbert did not react at all to Barrett's optimism. He just continued to stare seriously into Barrett's eyes. Some deep unspoken conversation seemed to be passed between the two street magicians before Barrett finally backed down and actually looked somewhat serious a moment. Reluctantly, Barrett slinked away towards Shadow.

"Hey," Barrett said softly.

Shadow's eyes lashed at the blond-haired boy before proceeding to ignore him and go on looking for you. Barrett sighed and walked behind him.

"I'm sorry, Shadow. I should have stuck to the routine... It was not right for me to hypnotize (y/n) or to put her in danger in the Globe of Death... You need to understand that the only way for us to--!"

"Be silent," Shadow told him with a vicious glare in his eyes. There would be no forgiveness. Not today. Proceeding in the same urgent manner as before, Shadow continued to search.

"Just what we needed, Barrett. Our new "ally" hating us. Perhaps you should think more with your head next time, numbskull," said Gilbert. With those final words, Gilbert retreated into his travel wagon with the last of the props. The stage would be torn down first thing in the morning. Barrett watched Gilbert leave, but he continued to sit outside as if he had some unfinished business.

Shadow looked for another hour or maybe more. He couldn't find you or the Phantom Ruby! Where else was there to look? Frustrated, he sat on the ground and furiously tried to think. Where were you?!

What Shadow didn't know was that you were actually very close nearby. Gilbert while packing up the props accidentally put the Phantom Ruby and the chaos emerald into a box and sealed it up. While inside the box, you weren't able to escape the Phantom Ruby... which was fine. You didn't want to come out anyway. It was better inside the Ruby where it was calm and quiet. If anything, it was easier to get rest inside the Phantom Ruby than it was in the apartment back in the city. Curled up on the ground, you found yourself wanting sleep.

"I'm ready for this day to be over... Yes, I found the chaos emeralds, but I nearly died in a stupid circus stunt...," you whimpered pathetically from within your curled up ball on the ground.

Hey, (y/n)?

A voice from outside of the Phantom Ruby was talking to you! It definitely wasn't Shadow's voice. If it was him, he'd be shouting worriedly. This was the blond boy. With a reluctant groan, you knew you had to answer him. He already knew you were there and would just keep bothering you if you didn't say anything. "Yeah, what is it, blond boy...?"

Barrett laughed at your nickname. He was as jolly as ever. Once his moment of giggling was over, he warped himself into the Phantom Ruby. A pained expression clouded his gaze when he saw you all curled up on the ground. "I'm so sorry, (y/n)! I swear I wouldn't have pulled you into that dangerous stunt if I was using my head! Believe me, I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something had happened to you or Shadow."

You leered at him suspiciously. Several questions were floating around in your mind. One question in particular. "Excuse me, Barrett was it? How do you know about me and Shadow? We've never seen you before!"

He shook his head at you and smiled. "Yes, you have! Think back to the Ark. Gilbert was one of the scientists! As for me, well... I was... his assistant!" he chirped.

That explained how he knew both of you so well. It also explained why they had chaos emeralds. Just because he was from the Ark did not mean that you trusted him. "So, are you here to help us escape from GUN? Or are you working for them...?"

Barrett coughed with disgust and looked horrified. "Me?! Work for them?! Ha! You must be joking. If there's anything you need to know about the government, it's that they are TERRIFIED of things involving alien life forms. Anytime we even so much as mentioned foreign DNA to them in our lab reports, they would go ballistic. The reason that the Ark was raided was because of Shadow. He's probably told you about all of that, right?"

Your gaze clouded. The GUN leader did tell you about part of the reason why they had raided the Ark. Gingerly, you added, "It was about the pursuit of eternal life..., right?"

Barrett's face hardened seriously. "That big mess was not how we were planning on saving Maria. Eternal life wasn't what we were really after at the time. Sure, we made Shadow immortal, but he could still die if he were to run into some very negative circumstances. The experiments for eternal life all failed anyway and each one was sealed away. Several creatures were made..., but they were simply too dangerous to allow to continue existing. Any dangerous creature that came out of the experiments would be put down immediately. Shadow was the only creature to show highly advanced intellect and positive responses to humans."

The idea of there being several hundreds of creatures made and then killed for going rogue drove you nuts. Also..., Shadow... was just a creature. He wasn't a human. You surprised yourself by only now realizing that he wasn't a human. Wasn't... compatible. You never thought of such a thing before. Had he ever thought about it? Was there really that big of a difference between the two of you? Stressing out, you shoved the topic out of your mind. "Then... What was the big issue about?"

"GUN got scared. Scared of the aliens. You see, Gerald discovered this Black Comet out in space, and he was able to connect with them. Because of their advanced technology, they were able to provide us with Shadow's DNA. That was why his particular experiment was so successful. This... freaked out GUN. Scared of what Shadow would do with the mind, blood, power, and intellect of an alien, they came to destroy him," Barrett explained solemnly. With a dark expression, he added, "Maria wasn't meant to die. Of course, we didn't want for Shadow to be destroyed, but Maria should not have had to suffer his punishment. Shadow knew that GUN would likely destroy him. He didn't want Maria to get involved in anything."

Shivers ran up and down your spine. Everything Barrett told you filled you to the brim with fear. While you did appreciate his statements of truth, you wished you could go back and forget them all. Shadow... Could you ever look at Shadow again without thinking of him as just an alien...? You shook your head. This was no time to start thinking about such things. Shadow is your protector and he will never leave you. The least you could do was never leave him in return. "I don't care that Shadow is an alien. He's my best friend!" you shouted angrily at Barrett. "You might as well have just not told me any of this because this changes nothing!"

Barrett couldn't help but smile even though you were yelling at him. Clearly, he was glad that you were supporting Shadow rather than fearing him like GUN did. Nodding his head, he stood to his feet. "You're right. It was wrong of me to start a conversation like this. You and Shadow are perfect for each other! He's strong and able to protect you and you stay by him with unending love and support. Now, I think we should be going. It's dark out and you must be starving. I promised you food for being our star today. I'm not going to break my promise," he said as he extended his hand towards you.

Staring at his hand with uncertainty, you suddenly felt a growl erupt from the pits of your empty stomach. Sadly..., he was very right. Reluctantly, you took his hand. "Alright... I'm only doing this for the food, Barrett!"

"Understood," he replied with a brief wink. "I assume that you don't want Shadow to follow us, right?" he asked you.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow... Tonight, I just want to eat nice food and go to sleep... I've been through far too much today...," you explained wearily. Chaos emeralds, volcanoes, Globes of Death, motorcycles, hypnotism, Phantom Rubies, it was a mess. It was time for the day to end and hopefully lead to a new, peaceful day.

Barrett knew how you felt and picked you up into his arms. "We'll be out and back before you know we've been anywhere." Suddenly, he warped back outside of the Phantom Ruby with you still being held firmly in his grasp. Silently, he raced along down the road towards a restaurant. You had never been to one before and it was well-lit inside with people buzzing in and out merrily.

After walking inside (and putting you down), the both of you sat down in a booth and waited for the waitress to appear. Barrett didn't even have to look at the menu to figure out what he wanted. You stared in wonder at all of the options! Making a decision was going to be difficult because you had no idea what the options even were. What in the world was a cheeseburger? "This place is known for its fast service. If you want in and out fast, this is the place to go. The food's a little greasy, but it's still pretty good!" Barrett explained.

You gaped in awe at the dessert section. Instantly you knew what you wanted. "I want a Rainbow Blaster with a side of fudge brownies!!"

"Whoa, there! Those are all desserts! Are you sure you don't want anything more substantial than that?" asked Barrett.

"Nope! I came here to eat and indulge. That's what I'm gonna do!" you objected. You REALLY wanted a Rainbow Blaster with fudge brownies. To prove your point, you held up the menu and pointed to the picture of the Rainbow Blaster. "Look, it has SEVEN different colorful layers of ice cream flavors! And look at the brownies! Fudge, chocolate, and powdered sugar in them! I want these and nothing else!" you shouted. There would be no changing your mind!

Barrett recalled his previous cheeseburger selection and smiled at a sudden realization. "I guess neither of us are having anything healthy tonight! I'm following a greasy path and you're going down a rocky road." Not knowing what rocky road ice cream was, you didn't understand the joke.

Having finished discussing what to eat, you both ordered your food and waited. A few minutes of polite conversation went by and the waitress returned with your glorious food! The Rainbow Blaster looked bigger in person than in the picture! About halfway into the Blaster, you encountered a color you didn't like the taste of.

"Barrett..., the yellow layer tastes terrible... I liked the orange and cherry layers! The lemon layer is just not my thing," you explained poking at the Rainbow Blaster with your spoon.

Pulling the Rainbow Blaster closer to him, he inspected the ice cream with a suspicious expression. "Hmmmm... Maybe I could take this layer off your hands," he replied. Grabbing his spoon, he took a big spoonful from the Blaster and ate it in one gulp. "Mm... This is actually pretty good! And I'm not much of an ice cream fan. Nice and tangy! Like freshly squeezed lemon juice."

"Well, you can have the whole layer! Just give it back when you reach the green layer, okay?" you told him seriously.

"Okay." With that, he began scarfing down the whole ice cream layer. While he was doing that, you nibbled on your delicious brownies. In the midst of enjoying yourself, you suddenly remembered that you left behind a very worried Shadow the Hedgehog who was also probably starving. You had no idea if he needed food or not... A feeling of guilt welled up inside of your gut. Barrett noticed immediately.

"Look, if you're worried about Shadow, forget about it. He doesn't need to eat much. Shadow gets most of his strength from chaos energy which doubles as food for him. Don't feel guilty," Barrett pointed out very matter-of-factly. It was amazing how he could accurately read your thoughts in an instant.

You huffed and turned away from him defensively. "I wasn't worried about him! Not at all. I know he can take care of himself!" With those words, you stuffed a brownie into your mouth and proceeded to ignore Barrett completely.

"Oh, really? You didn't hear him calling, "(Y/N)! (Y/N)! Where are you?! I need to protect you! Come baaaack!" Barrett announced far too loudly for your tastes. A few people glanced over curiously to see what he was shouting about.

"Barrett!" you whispered scoldingly. Irritated, you snatched back your Rainbow Blaster from him and continued eating it. You wouldn't give him the pleasure of eating your dessert.

Barrett giggled and shook his head at you. "You ARE concerned! Just admit it. I could tell the first time I saw you and Shadow that you both really liked each other. There's no doubt! I am also certain that if you had seen his puppy-dog expression of desperation and despair earlier when he realized you were missing would have torn you to pieces." Barrett did his best impression of the expression he was talking about and you couldn't help but feel a little bit of sympathy...

"You're exaggerating," you boldly said to his face. "My Shadow would never make that face. Not even if I was dying. He's always super strong and collected!"

Barrett smirked at you slyly and leaned towards you across the table. "Oh? 'My' Shadow?"

"Shut up!" you shouted, shoving his smirking face away from you. "Keep your remarkably huge nose out of my business!"

Finally giving up, Barrett sighed and bit into his cheeseburger and dipped a french fry into some ketchup. "Okay. What do you want me to talk about, then?"

...

"I have no idea."

Barrett stuffed the french fry into his mouth and nodded. "How do you feel about me on a scale of 1 to 10?" he asked.

Everything about the question seemed suspicious to you. Curiously, you asked, "In what way?"

"Platonically," he specified knowing what you were thinking once again. How did he do it?!

"Oh! Well, I'll give you a 4."

Barrett sat up straight with surprise. "Only a four?!"

"Yep. Just 4." You held up four fingers to him and started counting them off one by one. "One, two, three, four. That's you, Barrett."

Slightly taken aback, Barrett flopped backward in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. He seemed to be greatly distressed by the news. "Why?"

Thinking of the reason, you tried to explain how you felt in terms he would perfectly understand. "Well, a zero would be that I expect you to betray me or kill me at every moment. A ten would be that I find you be an extraordinary friend and I would trust you with my life. You don't even get up to halfway up the meter of friendship; therefore, you are only a four."

"Harsh...," Barrett whimpered sadly from his slumped over position.

You tilted your head slightly with confusion at him. "Why are you so upset about that? Why even ask a question like that at all?"

Sitting back up, Barrett grabbed onto your hand tightly with a more serious expression than you had ever seen him have before. "(Y/N), I have a very important thing to tell you. Just promise me that you won't freak out when I tell you. Please." Before he got an answer from you, he took a deep breath and continued. "(Y/N)..., I'm... your older brother."

What?

It took a moment for his words to process. You squinted at him hard and suddenly saw that he looked A LOT like Maria... Golden hair... Blue eyes... Neverending smile. "Wait..., my... brother? I have a brother?! And you were on the Space Colony with us?? Why didn't you come and see me?! Why doesn't Shadow know who you are?!" you demanded as you jumped to your feet demanding information out of Barrett. You needed to know everything about him now.

"Okay, okay. If we're going to continue this conversation, we should take it outside," he calmly replied.

The waitress seemed to be expecting you to be leaving soon upon hearing your conversation and hurried over. It was such a shame that you weren't able to finish your Rainbow Blaster in time.

Shadow's POV

The sky was brighter than I had ever seen it. It reminded me of the night I spent on the mountains looking for the blue chaos emerald. After searching for (y/n) for what seemed like forever, I finally gave up. I didn't want to... Paranoia was eating away at my mind. It said things like, 'G.U.N. captured her and she's being held hostage' and 'She ran away by herself and got into trouble'. I shivered violently and wished that she was close to me...

"Shadow!" a voice called to me from a distance. I already knew that it was Gilbert. "Shadow, you should come inside where it's warm! You'll catch a cold out there. Besides, there's a bed in here. Your injury will get better faster with rest in comfort."

I never slept in a bed before. In fact, I almost never slept unless if I was really exhausted. Normally, I would sleep in a capsule like on the Ark to regenerate my chaos energy. Since I came to Earth, I've only slept on the ground. In the city apartment, I got to lie on a bed..., but I couldn't stay for long. I had to find the green chaos emerald..., and I was so absorbed with Maria's death that I couldn't possibly focus on how comfy the bed was. Gilbert's offer was tempting..., but I refused.

"Why not, Shadow? I'm sure (y/n) will be back soon. She had a long day! Maybe she went to get some food to help her recover some strength," Gilbert suggested.

It sounded like something she would do. If it is, I encourage her. I was starting to worry about her collapsing again from lack of energy like on the beach... Her body was so cold and limp. As I held her in my arms that night, I felt a deep sense of worthlessness. I didn't take good enough care of her...

Gilbert noticed my silence and could tell I was still brooding. I wasn't surprised when he came over next to me and sat down. Glancing up at the moon and the stars with me, he started talking. "What a beautiful night... It's the perfect night to be gazing at the stars..."

"I don't have time for useless conversation," I told him coldly hoping that he would get my hint and leave me alone.

"On the contrary, you have plenty of time for useless conversation. Look at yourself: bored, freezing, miserable. I only want to help keep your mind off of her for a moment," Gilbert explained calmly.

Knowing I was stuck with this man, I stayed quiet. Unable to control it, I thought of (y/n) and hugged my arms tightly. The insecurity was killing me... Why is it that I feel more needy now than when I lost Maria...? When I first came to this planet, I could control my emotions and deceive (y/n) into believing I hated her... Now I want nothing more than to hold her, stroke her, protect her. No matter how hard I tried to quench my desire to be with her, it would not leave me alone. My loneliness and desire would only get stronger. It hurt... a lot.

"Shadow, there's no need to cry... You're okay...," Gilbert said soothingly.

What did he mean by crying? I wasn't cry--

. . .

Salty tears were rolling slowly down my cheeks. I was so absorbed in my despair, I hadn't even noticed. I never cried before. Not once. Not for Maria. Not for anything. And now...?

Quickly, I brushed the tears away and forced a stone-hard expression onto my face. "I'm not crying," I fiercely told him. Despite my efforts, I couldn't quite get my eyes to stop welling up. Before long, more tears replaced the ones I brushed away.

"Shadow..., there's no need to be ashamed of it. A lonely heart always sings at night. I don't know of one person who can resist the slow, sad melody of a lonely, aching heart... You can't help but cry and want to be with her. There's nothing you can do but cry the emotions away until you can't feel the misery anymore," Gilbert said with an understanding glance my way.

Swallowing hard, I brushed the second round of tears away. I could feel my throat tighten. If Gilbert weren't there watching me, I would have already broken. What happened to my strength...? Why was I letting myself become so vulnerable...? Before I could get worse, I forced myself to take deep breaths and think of something else. "Where's Barrett...?"

Gilbert looked around and shrugged. "No idea. The boy must have left to get a snack. He loves to eat his suppers at midnight. Personally, I don't understand why. There are many things about him that I don't understand."

I suddenly grabbed Gilbert's shoulders frantically without thinking about it. The desperateness in my voice frightened even me. "Is it possible that (y/n) is with Barrett?!"

Once again, Gilbert shrugged. He then gave me a strong, intense look straight into my eyes. "Shadow, you are not yourself right now. If G.U.N. were to be prowling the streets right now, you wouldn't be able to fight them off. They likely won't recognize (y/n). Especially if she's with Barrett. You're the one who's in the most danger, Shadow. The best course of action you can take right now is to get into the wagon and get some sleep. I have a few more things I want to do out here, so you'll have the wagon to yourself."

Sleep... One of the best ways to regain strength... Maybe he was right.

I stood from the ground and headed off for the travel wagon without a word. If sleep could ease my mind of these thoughts and get my emotions back under control, then maybe getting a few hours of sleep would be better for me than all of the chaos energy in the world.

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