BEGINNING FROM AN END
by J Weekley
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LEGAL STUFF:  Text copyright 1998 by the Shrine of Chaota Company.  Sonic the hedgehog, and all related subject matter are trademarks of SEGA.  Used without permission.
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What has happened to my home?
A land, once so green and fertile,
Now nothing but a barren gray desert.
The air, so thick with smog,
It chokes me to even think of it.
Why, for heaven's sake, would the king ever allow this to happen?

For seven years, I have wandered.
Away from the War;
Away from the pain and suffering I caused;
The pain and suffering brought onto me.
I had hopes of meeting my wife, my children,
To be their father and husband once again.

But, alas, I fear the worst.
Has the enemy won?
Had, in those years of my journey, the feared ones conquered our city;
My city?
What of the king, what of the princess?
What had the forces of evil done to them?
With a sigh, and a tear, I venture forth,
Back to my home.

Within the new city,
The streets are empty, and filthy, and the buildings covered in soot.
No children are playing;
Their shouts of joy do not fill the air as in days past.
I round a corner, and there, in all its sadness, sits my home.
Gray with smoke and paint long since molded over,
It stands neglected, like every one else along the block.

As I begin to turn around, I notice sticking out of the dirt an arm.
A left arm.
The flesh eaten away by years of decay,
But I can still see upon a finger,
A ring of solid gold, with a cluster of diamonds emerging from the center.
And the terror of realization blows through me;
The cold rush of adrenaline;
The spike piercing my heart.
I turn away to hide from the scene, but I cannot.

Tears flooding my vision, I fall to the ground.
I clutch the dirt in my hands,
As if it, or the ghosts it holds, could give me comfort.
But ghosts cannot comfort, only haunt,
And her ghost shall haunt me forever.
With my eyes shut tight, and a cry of defiance,
I run from the scene, just as I ran from the battlefield.

But as I begin to cross the hill back over to the other side,
I look back once again.
I know now that I cannot leave.
And the fear and terror and remorse
All change to anger and vengeance.
The hate welling up inside me cannot be contained,
And I yell back in the full force of the emotion,
"Whoever you are, you will pay!
I will make you suffer worse than I have!
You will be held accountable for the murders you've committed!
Against me; against everyone!
Whatever monster you are, go hide in fear,
For this time, I WILL NOT LEAVE!"