KRISSIE: 10:18am, let's continue with the story.
PREVIOUS
Shadow hadn't explored a lot of the woods. Where Sonic liked to run when he explored, Shadow liked to take it slower. Look at everything and take it in. There was a lot of nature in Mercia. Some spots he could tell where Eggman had destroyed it and others, he could find trees so large, he was sure they were centuries old. Shadow currently found himself walking along a stream watching the fish swim along. He found it peaceful. Marian was right about the breeze being nice by water today too.
Shadow felt something hit his stomach as he fell over. He faced forward to notice an iron bench. He groaned. How did he forget to look forward?
"Are you alright?" The voice was soft.
Shadow groaned. Of course it had to be seen.
"Shadow?"
"I'm fine Rose," he pinched the bridge of his muzzle. "And yourself?" He looked up to see Amy, taking note of the sundress she wore. It was a light pale green with flowers lining the bottom hem and bodice.
"Wanting to laugh at you for not looking forward when you walk. But it's not very nice." She smiled as she readjusted her blanket. Shadow noticed the intricate floral pattern she was creating.
PREVIOUS
Shadow hadn't explored a lot of the woods. Where Sonic liked to run when he explored, Shadow liked to take it slower. Look at everything and take it in. There was a lot of nature in Mercia. Some spots he could tell where Eggman had destroyed it and others, he could find trees so large, he was sure they were centuries old. Shadow currently found himself walking along a stream watching the fish swim along. He found it peaceful. Marian was right about the breeze being nice by water today too.
Shadow felt something hit his stomach as he fell over. He faced forward to notice an iron bench. He groaned. How did he forget to look forward?
"Are you alright?" The voice was soft.
Shadow groaned. Of course it had to be seen.
"Shadow?"
"I'm fine Rose," he pinched the bridge of his muzzle. "And yourself?" He looked up to see Amy, taking note of the sundress she wore. It was a light pale green with flowers lining the bottom hem and bodice.
"Wanting to laugh at you for not looking forward when you walk. But it's not very nice." She smiled as she readjusted her blanket. Shadow noticed the intricate floral pattern she was creating.
"The D'Coolette's will be very pleased to know how long you've spent working on their gift."
Amy beam as she scooted over. She patted the spot next to her and Shadow took her up on it. "I am planning on going to their baby shower next week. Will you be attending?"
He shook his head. "I rather not party crash."
Amy hummed as she continued her stitching. "So what have you been up to?"
Shadow shrugged. "The usual. Work and new missions. Rouge lectured me for upsetting you. I remodeled my home a bit."
"Really? What did you remodel in your house?"
Shadow found himself watching the pink hedgehog as she stitched the flowers; pulling the needle through the cloth as if she was running her hand through water. "My living room floor. There was a huge hole in the floor."
Amy's hand jerked as her face became flush. "Sorry..,." the breath finally came out. "That wasn't very ladylike of me."
Shadow smirked. His eyes becoming half lidded. "A lot of you isn't ladylike Rose."
Amy jerked as he glared him. In a few seconds, Shadow would be deaf for sure.
His smile only grew as he moved a quill out of her face. "That's what I like best about you."
"My tantrums?"
Shadow shook his head. "You're passion and how you never hide it. No matter what. How you can make even the toughest of enemies fear that hammer of yours is also amusing." Shadow leaned onto her, resting his head on her shoulder. She smelled of cherry blossoms today. Normally she smelled of artificial strawberries. Her body began to warm up. Something Shadow enjoyed.
"Comfortable?" the hum made Shadow hum back. Amy continued on with her stitching. She bobbed her shoulder up and down a little after a few minutes.
"I'm content, please let me enjoy this." Shadow nuzzled closer into her neck.
Amy sighed as she continued with her stitching. She switched through three different thread colors as they sat there.
A group of young tens came down the river, chasing a fish. Amy smiled at them as they passed.
They cheered as they caught it a few yards down the river. They began walking back up the river to where they were originally. They paused and gawked at the two on the bench. "Hello your majesty," a young bird greeted with a shy wave. "Sorry to disturb your.... date?"
Amy chuckled. "It's fine." She held up a hand. "You guys have a lovely day. That fish sure gave you guys a run."
The dog Mobian nodded, "We still won though." The group waved as they walked away. Amy returning the waves.
"For royalty, you're rather approachable." Shadow mumbled as he slightly opened his eyes.
"We take pride in being able to understand our people in Mercia. It helps bring us all closer together I feel like." Amy returned to her stitching. She was on the stem for the flower.
"Why didn't you correct them about the date?" Shadow glanced around the river.
"There is a sleeping man on my shoulder. No matter what I say, they would think I was being shy and still presume otherwise." Amy placed her chin on his head.
Shadow gave a soft nod.
"Let's just hope rumors don't start." Amy hummed.
Shadow arched an brow at her. He looked up and found the sun setting. He stretched as he stood up. "Want an escort home?" He offered his hand.
Amy smiled as she accepted it. They took a route through the city under dim yellow city lights. Amy softly telling him about some of the places as they walked by. As Amy walked up the steps to her home. She smiled at Shadow. "If you're ever in Mercia again, let me know. I can be your tour guide."
Shadow nodded as he chaos controlled home.
The baby shower was very lively as the girls were chatting around a picnic table. The boys were playing a bored game and arguing about rules.
Bunnie kept looking at the door. She was hoping Amy would come, but she hadn't arrived in the country yet. But Amy did promise she would be here.
"Amy sure is running late?" Sally hummed.
Bunnie smiled at her as she nodded.
"Should we call her? Maybe she's still on the plane." Cream sounded hopeful.
"But if she's on a commercial flight, she wouldn't get the phone call dear." Vanilla stated as she poured herself some tea.
"Oh..."
"I'm sure she'll be here any minute." Bunnie stated mainly to herself.
"Right, if Amy said she'll be here. She'll be here." Hershey beamed.
Cream nodded as she pulled out her phone. "I don't know a lot of about Mercia." She typed the country into the search bar. Her eyes widened as she stared at the online news article. "Oh boy." She slid the phone into her lap.
Vanilla looked at her in question.
"Let me see," Rouge leaned over her shoulder.
"It's nothing. Really." Cream tried to hide the phone.
"I doubt it." Rouge grabbed it and stared wide at the news article. "This is a tabloid." She bared her teeth. "And not a funny one."
"Right!" Cream stated. "But it's not right to start such baseless rumors." Everyone stared at the rabbit. It was rare for the calm teen to show anger.
Rouge handed her the phone back. "I'm sure they'll all realize that soon enough. And it's not like Amy will let rumors like that bother her."
"What rumors?" Antoine turned to look at the girls.
"Some tabloid in Mercia started a baseless rumor stating that Amy is pregnant!" Rouge growled.
"It's completely false. Amy is the kind of girl who will wait till marriage." Cream stated firmly.
All the guys began to panic.
"Relax it's obviously false." Rouge assured them.
"But why would they be saying that?" Sonic question.
"Probably to have something juicy to discuss." Sally sighed. "Amy is apart of the Mercian royal family. People love to start baseless rumors about celebrities."
"Amy's royalty?" Rouge gasped.
Sally nodded. "I thought you knew. Aren't you a spy for GUN?"
"We don't have a lot of information on Mercia since we're still in negotiations of opening a trade agreement with them." Rouge shrugged.
A knock at the door ceased the uproar. Antoine got up to greet the new visitors. He sighed in relief as she saw Amy standing on his front porch. He wrapped his arms around her. "You're late Ma Aime."
Amy chuckled.
"That is my fault," Shadow stated from beside the pink hedgehog.. "I overslept."
"Well since you're both here, come inside." Antoine ushered them both inside. "There's plenty of food and drink."
Amy smiled. "I brought my present!" She held up the box wrapped in shiny glittery paper for him to see.
Antoine nodded as they entered the backyard.
"AMES!" Sonic glomped Amy in a bear hug. Amy stared at the blue hedgehog in shock.
"I wasn't gone that long."
"Yeah, but tabloids made me worry." Sonic released her. "What's up?"
"Wondering what tabloid you read," Amy walked up to Bunnie and hugged her. She placed the gift in Bunnie's hand. "Since I'm so late, can you guys open this and be happy."
Bunnie laughed as she accepted the gift. She opened it carefully and gawked as she pulled out the baby blanket. It had flowers beautifully embroidered on it.
"Where did you buy this?" Antoine was in awe at the wonderful craftsmanship on the blanket.
"There are two of them," Bunnie pulled out a matching blanket but with alternate colors.
"Wow!" Hershey whistled.
"That must of cost a pretty penny." Rouge mused.
"Only the fabric and thread." Amy smiled.
"You made this?" Antoine and Bunnie spoke in unison.
"I wanted your child's gift to be special." Amy blushed.
"Have you been working on this every where you go in Mercia?" Sally asked as she stared at the skill of the stitches.
"Pretty much." Amy nodded. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to get them done in time."
"Ah! No wonder the tabloids were saying you were pregnant." Sonic sighed in relief. "They took pictures of you working on the baby blanket and ran with it."
"And this explains why every one is worried about Rose." Shadow crossed his arms. "You should have more faith in Rose. She is the type to wait til marriage before she engage in intercourse."
"I think Shadow just likes to show off his huge vocabulary." Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You can help with this board game then." He dragged Shadow over the table. They had scrabble out. Shadow nodded as he assisted the guardian.
The baby shower was full of laughter and yummy cake. Antoine and Bunnie had decided to let the baby's gender be a surprise for them. Though it didn't stop Bunnie from trying to convince Hershey and Geoffrey to have a child so their's would have one to play with. Amy walked back with Shadow and Rouge.
"So... You're a princess?" Rouge spoke slowly.
Amy chuckled. "Is everyone going to act weird about it when they first find out?"
"Well it is a shock. I mean, half the time now I feel like I should be greeting you as my lady or your majesty and holding the door for you and all that other stuff," Shadow counted out the things on his fingers.
"You hold the door for girls naturally," Amy pointed out. "And you also pull out girls' chairs for them naturally too. You're just a gentleman."
"They made sure the ultimate life form had the ultimate manners!" Rouge teased.
"It only looks that way because the mannerisms have changed over the year," Shadow huffed as he crossed his arms.
"The main question is, why not flaunt that title around?" Rouge mused. "Or wear some royal jewels?"
Shadow chocked on air. "She's plotting to rob your country."
Amy chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Rouge's. "I grew up being one of the people. Eggman wrecked my home and sent the family into hiding. My cousin and I, however, find it easier to help the people when we're apart of them. Not above them. Plus, it's less lonely!" Amy placed her finger on her chin. "As far as jewels, I'm sorry many of them are hidden in secret rooms in the castle. But the legion is still occupying it. So even if you wanted to add them to your collection. You would first have to either remove the legion or infiltrate them long enough to find the room the jewels are hidden in."
"How do you know the legion haven't sold them on a black market?" Rouge mused.
"Have you heard of Lilian's tiara?"
"Oh yeah! It's legendary. It's a tiara whose jewels form to look like a rose." Rouge babbled as she described the tiara.
Amy smiled. "And have you ever heard of it being found?"
Rouge shook her head. "It's never been found. People have tried to make fakes, but no one can make one like it."
Amy smirked knowingly. "That tiara is a family heirloom. My mother hide it during the seize of the castle. The fact that no one has found the real one means she hide it really well. Plus the castle has a lot of the secret rooms the legion still hasn't found, which is lucky for us. So when we're able to boot the legion out, we have some things we can sell for supplies."
"You're going to sell them off when you get the castle back?" Rouge bellowed in shock.
"Yeah. Cousin and I talked about it. We don't have a lot of funding like the Republic of Acorns and GUN has. We're lacking in medical supplies, doctors, schools, everything really. Why it would be nice to keep items from our ancestors, it would be best to sell them so we could buy supplies we need."
Rouge pouted.
"If you want, if we find jewels in the castle, I'll let you buy them first?" Amy tried to sooth the bat's anger.
"Does Mercia have a plan to get the castle back?" Shadow joined in the conversation.
"We're still working on it. We don't have a lot of man power. But I'm pretty strong, so I'm sure I can handle the front line. But Rob is a worry-wart." Amy groaned at her cousin's constant concerns.
Shadow nodded. He understood Rob though. What if Amy got captured. The Legion would use having the princess as leverage to make any seize of the castle cease.
"If the legion captured you, they would use you as a hostage to make everyone stop fighting." Shadow stating simply.
Amy sighed. "I know. But I'm the strongest heavy hitter his has. Everyone else is skilled at distant attacks; and the castle is built on a hill. Arrows don't do well with tall walls."
"A museum!" Rouge clapped her hands together, pulling Amy into her side. She beamed at Amy. "You can put all the artifacts in a museum. Charge a fee to enter and that'll help raise funds. Plus, it'll raise funds continually then a one time sale."
Amy thought about it for a moment and then smiled sweetly. "That does great! But we'll have to pick a building for it. Or build one."
"Well, what are you plans to do with the castle?" Shadow asked.
"We're not sure. Probably just a law office for meetings and such. Rob really likes his house."
"That's lame." Rouge pouted. "Why don't you live in it?"
Amy sighed. "It's so big. And I'll be there alone since Rob doesn't want to live in it. I think it'll be lonely."
"Though you can unleash all your home decor skills on all the rooms," Shadow shuddered. He had seen Amy go all out when decorating homes. She deprived great pleasure from it and Shadow could only hope she never decided to redecorate his home.
Amy beamed in excitement. "Oooh... That would be fun."
"I'm sure Hershey and Geoffrey would love to come help. They both seem to love decorating homes." Rouge teased.
"I'll consider inviting them." Amy skipped happily.
"If it's fire power you need to get the castle back, why not ask the Acorn family or Sonic for help? Or even GUN for that matter?" Rouge asked.
Shadow gulped as his body stiffened. He had been wondering the same thing, but he wasn't sure if he should ask since they just made up over him putting her in a mental corner.
"We thought about it. The thing is, the country of Mercia has no money to really pay for assistance. Plus, we have nothing really to trade with either country to really form an alliance. Like what would the Republic of Acorn want in exchange? Could we give it to them after that assistance? Would it put our people in a bind? The same thing with GUN. While it would be more favorable to go through the Republic of Acorns, they are also still growing too. So would it be safe for them to send their soldiers to our country? Or would that leave them unprotected?"
"You really thought about it huh?" Rouge stared at Amy with a new found respect.
"Yeah. Rob and I began thinking about it after one of the eastern countries sent an alliance proposal." Amy looked down as she tapped her fingers on Rouge's arm.
"Really? What did they want?" Rouge puckered her lip as she moved a strand of quill out of Amy's face.
"My hand in marriage," Amy rolled her eyes.
"You didn't accept that did you?" Shadow stopped in his tracked as he grabbed Amy's free arm. His eyes wide in panic.
Amy stared back in shock. Her mouth slightly agape. She gulped down the saliva in her throat. "Rob politely declined for me."
"Meaning?" Rouge implored as Shadow sighed with relief. Though he refused to release her arm.
"Rob and Marian informed me of the proposal after it was declined. I was then educated on how negations work." Amy stated as she glanced every so often at Shadow's grip on her arm.
Rouge looked over at the ebony hedgehog. She arched an eyebrow at him. Once she had eye contact with him, she glanced at his hand and back with questioning.
Shadow simply shook his head. He wasn't going to let Amy Rose go anytime soon.
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NEXT
He shook his head. "I rather not party crash."
Amy hummed as she continued her stitching. "So what have you been up to?"
Shadow shrugged. "The usual. Work and new missions. Rouge lectured me for upsetting you. I remodeled my home a bit."
"Really? What did you remodel in your house?"
Shadow found himself watching the pink hedgehog as she stitched the flowers; pulling the needle through the cloth as if she was running her hand through water. "My living room floor. There was a huge hole in the floor."
Amy's hand jerked as her face became flush. "Sorry..,." the breath finally came out. "That wasn't very ladylike of me."
Shadow smirked. His eyes becoming half lidded. "A lot of you isn't ladylike Rose."
Amy jerked as he glared him. In a few seconds, Shadow would be deaf for sure.
His smile only grew as he moved a quill out of her face. "That's what I like best about you."
"My tantrums?"
Shadow shook his head. "You're passion and how you never hide it. No matter what. How you can make even the toughest of enemies fear that hammer of yours is also amusing." Shadow leaned onto her, resting his head on her shoulder. She smelled of cherry blossoms today. Normally she smelled of artificial strawberries. Her body began to warm up. Something Shadow enjoyed.
"Comfortable?" the hum made Shadow hum back. Amy continued on with her stitching. She bobbed her shoulder up and down a little after a few minutes.
"I'm content, please let me enjoy this." Shadow nuzzled closer into her neck.
Amy sighed as she continued with her stitching. She switched through three different thread colors as they sat there.
A group of young tens came down the river, chasing a fish. Amy smiled at them as they passed.
They cheered as they caught it a few yards down the river. They began walking back up the river to where they were originally. They paused and gawked at the two on the bench. "Hello your majesty," a young bird greeted with a shy wave. "Sorry to disturb your.... date?"
Amy chuckled. "It's fine." She held up a hand. "You guys have a lovely day. That fish sure gave you guys a run."
The dog Mobian nodded, "We still won though." The group waved as they walked away. Amy returning the waves.
"For royalty, you're rather approachable." Shadow mumbled as he slightly opened his eyes.
"We take pride in being able to understand our people in Mercia. It helps bring us all closer together I feel like." Amy returned to her stitching. She was on the stem for the flower.
"Why didn't you correct them about the date?" Shadow glanced around the river.
"There is a sleeping man on my shoulder. No matter what I say, they would think I was being shy and still presume otherwise." Amy placed her chin on his head.
Shadow gave a soft nod.
"Let's just hope rumors don't start." Amy hummed.
Shadow arched an brow at her. He looked up and found the sun setting. He stretched as he stood up. "Want an escort home?" He offered his hand.
Amy smiled as she accepted it. They took a route through the city under dim yellow city lights. Amy softly telling him about some of the places as they walked by. As Amy walked up the steps to her home. She smiled at Shadow. "If you're ever in Mercia again, let me know. I can be your tour guide."
Shadow nodded as he chaos controlled home.
The baby shower was very lively as the girls were chatting around a picnic table. The boys were playing a bored game and arguing about rules.
Bunnie kept looking at the door. She was hoping Amy would come, but she hadn't arrived in the country yet. But Amy did promise she would be here.
"Amy sure is running late?" Sally hummed.
Bunnie smiled at her as she nodded.
"Should we call her? Maybe she's still on the plane." Cream sounded hopeful.
"But if she's on a commercial flight, she wouldn't get the phone call dear." Vanilla stated as she poured herself some tea.
"Oh..."
"I'm sure she'll be here any minute." Bunnie stated mainly to herself.
"Right, if Amy said she'll be here. She'll be here." Hershey beamed.
Cream nodded as she pulled out her phone. "I don't know a lot of about Mercia." She typed the country into the search bar. Her eyes widened as she stared at the online news article. "Oh boy." She slid the phone into her lap.
Vanilla looked at her in question.
"Let me see," Rouge leaned over her shoulder.
"It's nothing. Really." Cream tried to hide the phone.
"I doubt it." Rouge grabbed it and stared wide at the news article. "This is a tabloid." She bared her teeth. "And not a funny one."
"Right!" Cream stated. "But it's not right to start such baseless rumors." Everyone stared at the rabbit. It was rare for the calm teen to show anger.
Rouge handed her the phone back. "I'm sure they'll all realize that soon enough. And it's not like Amy will let rumors like that bother her."
"What rumors?" Antoine turned to look at the girls.
"Some tabloid in Mercia started a baseless rumor stating that Amy is pregnant!" Rouge growled.
"It's completely false. Amy is the kind of girl who will wait till marriage." Cream stated firmly.
All the guys began to panic.
"Relax it's obviously false." Rouge assured them.
"But why would they be saying that?" Sonic question.
"Probably to have something juicy to discuss." Sally sighed. "Amy is apart of the Mercian royal family. People love to start baseless rumors about celebrities."
"Amy's royalty?" Rouge gasped.
Sally nodded. "I thought you knew. Aren't you a spy for GUN?"
"We don't have a lot of information on Mercia since we're still in negotiations of opening a trade agreement with them." Rouge shrugged.
A knock at the door ceased the uproar. Antoine got up to greet the new visitors. He sighed in relief as she saw Amy standing on his front porch. He wrapped his arms around her. "You're late Ma Aime."
Amy chuckled.
"That is my fault," Shadow stated from beside the pink hedgehog.. "I overslept."
"Well since you're both here, come inside." Antoine ushered them both inside. "There's plenty of food and drink."
Amy smiled. "I brought my present!" She held up the box wrapped in shiny glittery paper for him to see.
Antoine nodded as they entered the backyard.
"AMES!" Sonic glomped Amy in a bear hug. Amy stared at the blue hedgehog in shock.
"I wasn't gone that long."
"Yeah, but tabloids made me worry." Sonic released her. "What's up?"
"Wondering what tabloid you read," Amy walked up to Bunnie and hugged her. She placed the gift in Bunnie's hand. "Since I'm so late, can you guys open this and be happy."
Bunnie laughed as she accepted the gift. She opened it carefully and gawked as she pulled out the baby blanket. It had flowers beautifully embroidered on it.
"Where did you buy this?" Antoine was in awe at the wonderful craftsmanship on the blanket.
"There are two of them," Bunnie pulled out a matching blanket but with alternate colors.
"Wow!" Hershey whistled.
"That must of cost a pretty penny." Rouge mused.
"Only the fabric and thread." Amy smiled.
"You made this?" Antoine and Bunnie spoke in unison.
"I wanted your child's gift to be special." Amy blushed.
"Have you been working on this every where you go in Mercia?" Sally asked as she stared at the skill of the stitches.
"Pretty much." Amy nodded. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to get them done in time."
"Ah! No wonder the tabloids were saying you were pregnant." Sonic sighed in relief. "They took pictures of you working on the baby blanket and ran with it."
"And this explains why every one is worried about Rose." Shadow crossed his arms. "You should have more faith in Rose. She is the type to wait til marriage before she engage in intercourse."
"I think Shadow just likes to show off his huge vocabulary." Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You can help with this board game then." He dragged Shadow over the table. They had scrabble out. Shadow nodded as he assisted the guardian.
The baby shower was full of laughter and yummy cake. Antoine and Bunnie had decided to let the baby's gender be a surprise for them. Though it didn't stop Bunnie from trying to convince Hershey and Geoffrey to have a child so their's would have one to play with. Amy walked back with Shadow and Rouge.
"So... You're a princess?" Rouge spoke slowly.
Amy chuckled. "Is everyone going to act weird about it when they first find out?"
"Well it is a shock. I mean, half the time now I feel like I should be greeting you as my lady or your majesty and holding the door for you and all that other stuff," Shadow counted out the things on his fingers.
"You hold the door for girls naturally," Amy pointed out. "And you also pull out girls' chairs for them naturally too. You're just a gentleman."
"They made sure the ultimate life form had the ultimate manners!" Rouge teased.
"It only looks that way because the mannerisms have changed over the year," Shadow huffed as he crossed his arms.
"The main question is, why not flaunt that title around?" Rouge mused. "Or wear some royal jewels?"
Shadow chocked on air. "She's plotting to rob your country."
Amy chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Rouge's. "I grew up being one of the people. Eggman wrecked my home and sent the family into hiding. My cousin and I, however, find it easier to help the people when we're apart of them. Not above them. Plus, it's less lonely!" Amy placed her finger on her chin. "As far as jewels, I'm sorry many of them are hidden in secret rooms in the castle. But the legion is still occupying it. So even if you wanted to add them to your collection. You would first have to either remove the legion or infiltrate them long enough to find the room the jewels are hidden in."
"How do you know the legion haven't sold them on a black market?" Rouge mused.
"Have you heard of Lilian's tiara?"
"Oh yeah! It's legendary. It's a tiara whose jewels form to look like a rose." Rouge babbled as she described the tiara.
Amy smiled. "And have you ever heard of it being found?"
Rouge shook her head. "It's never been found. People have tried to make fakes, but no one can make one like it."
Amy smirked knowingly. "That tiara is a family heirloom. My mother hide it during the seize of the castle. The fact that no one has found the real one means she hide it really well. Plus the castle has a lot of the secret rooms the legion still hasn't found, which is lucky for us. So when we're able to boot the legion out, we have some things we can sell for supplies."
"You're going to sell them off when you get the castle back?" Rouge bellowed in shock.
"Yeah. Cousin and I talked about it. We don't have a lot of funding like the Republic of Acorns and GUN has. We're lacking in medical supplies, doctors, schools, everything really. Why it would be nice to keep items from our ancestors, it would be best to sell them so we could buy supplies we need."
Rouge pouted.
"If you want, if we find jewels in the castle, I'll let you buy them first?" Amy tried to sooth the bat's anger.
"Does Mercia have a plan to get the castle back?" Shadow joined in the conversation.
"We're still working on it. We don't have a lot of man power. But I'm pretty strong, so I'm sure I can handle the front line. But Rob is a worry-wart." Amy groaned at her cousin's constant concerns.
Shadow nodded. He understood Rob though. What if Amy got captured. The Legion would use having the princess as leverage to make any seize of the castle cease.
"If the legion captured you, they would use you as a hostage to make everyone stop fighting." Shadow stating simply.
Amy sighed. "I know. But I'm the strongest heavy hitter his has. Everyone else is skilled at distant attacks; and the castle is built on a hill. Arrows don't do well with tall walls."
"A museum!" Rouge clapped her hands together, pulling Amy into her side. She beamed at Amy. "You can put all the artifacts in a museum. Charge a fee to enter and that'll help raise funds. Plus, it'll raise funds continually then a one time sale."
Amy thought about it for a moment and then smiled sweetly. "That does great! But we'll have to pick a building for it. Or build one."
"Well, what are you plans to do with the castle?" Shadow asked.
"We're not sure. Probably just a law office for meetings and such. Rob really likes his house."
"That's lame." Rouge pouted. "Why don't you live in it?"
Amy sighed. "It's so big. And I'll be there alone since Rob doesn't want to live in it. I think it'll be lonely."
"Though you can unleash all your home decor skills on all the rooms," Shadow shuddered. He had seen Amy go all out when decorating homes. She deprived great pleasure from it and Shadow could only hope she never decided to redecorate his home.
Amy beamed in excitement. "Oooh... That would be fun."
"I'm sure Hershey and Geoffrey would love to come help. They both seem to love decorating homes." Rouge teased.
"I'll consider inviting them." Amy skipped happily.
"If it's fire power you need to get the castle back, why not ask the Acorn family or Sonic for help? Or even GUN for that matter?" Rouge asked.
Shadow gulped as his body stiffened. He had been wondering the same thing, but he wasn't sure if he should ask since they just made up over him putting her in a mental corner.
"We thought about it. The thing is, the country of Mercia has no money to really pay for assistance. Plus, we have nothing really to trade with either country to really form an alliance. Like what would the Republic of Acorn want in exchange? Could we give it to them after that assistance? Would it put our people in a bind? The same thing with GUN. While it would be more favorable to go through the Republic of Acorns, they are also still growing too. So would it be safe for them to send their soldiers to our country? Or would that leave them unprotected?"
"You really thought about it huh?" Rouge stared at Amy with a new found respect.
"Yeah. Rob and I began thinking about it after one of the eastern countries sent an alliance proposal." Amy looked down as she tapped her fingers on Rouge's arm.
"Really? What did they want?" Rouge puckered her lip as she moved a strand of quill out of Amy's face.
"My hand in marriage," Amy rolled her eyes.
"You didn't accept that did you?" Shadow stopped in his tracked as he grabbed Amy's free arm. His eyes wide in panic.
Amy stared back in shock. Her mouth slightly agape. She gulped down the saliva in her throat. "Rob politely declined for me."
"Meaning?" Rouge implored as Shadow sighed with relief. Though he refused to release her arm.
"Rob and Marian informed me of the proposal after it was declined. I was then educated on how negations work." Amy stated as she glanced every so often at Shadow's grip on her arm.
Rouge looked over at the ebony hedgehog. She arched an eyebrow at him. Once she had eye contact with him, she glanced at his hand and back with questioning.
Shadow simply shook his head. He wasn't going to let Amy Rose go anytime soon.
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NEXT
