Chapter 1: Book Beauty
In Medieval Times, there was once a proud and grand kingdom called Mobius. A place where everyone could get along despite species or social class. The kingdom was ruled by the great King Jules T. Hedgehog and his beautiful wife, Queen Aleena. The queen soon gave birth to their baby boy and future heir to the throne, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was a cheery and happy boy who was close to his parents, which was rare for royal families; his parents would spoil their only child constantly and teach him things about the kingdom they lived in.
One day, the king was mysteriously dead after drinking from his gold cup. After observing, the servants came to a conclusion that the king was poisoned. Hearing the news saddened everyone in the kingdom, especially Queen Aleena who jumped off the tower to commit suicide feeling hopeless about the death of her husband.
After the death of his parents, Prince Sonic felt devastated and decided to isolate himself for the castle allowing no one inside but his servants. The economy of the kingdom crashed which made the Kingdom of Mobius divide into two towns based on social class named Elmore and The Slumps. The city of Elmore was where the higher class would reside; it was also the city closer to the castle. The city was resided by nobles, lords, more wealthy businesses and the city was much cleaner. However, The Slumps was where the poor and misfortune resided. Everyone was gloomy and depressed, while the city of Elmore had merry and well-off people.
However there was one beautiful maiden from The Slumps who was far from depressed; in fact she was different in many other ways as well. She was a pink hedgehog with dark jade eyes and a fair muzzle who wore nothing but an old brown raggedy dress and old brown flats. She also loved to read books which was uncommon for women in that time. Her name was Amy Rose, a beautiful maiden who enjoyed reading but was also…clumsy.
"It's such a beautiful morning!" she chirped. Amy was the only one in the Slumps who knew how to put on a cheery smile despite the conditions of her home. She entered a small store which was ran by Mighty the Armadillo.
"Good day, Madam." Mighty greeted with a small smile. "and what will you be having?"
"Why hello Dear Mighty, I'll be having a loaf half loaf of bread." The hedgehog replied.
The black armadillo nodded and took out a half of a loaf old bread. Since they lived in the slums, they didn't have the best food and other items. "It's not much, but this is the only thing we have." He said.
"Wonderful!" Amy cheered. "Just wrap it up for me if you will." She added. Mighty wrapped the bread in a small sack and Amy paid him three rings. The maiden noticed an old blue book behind Mighty that was on a wooden shelf.
"Oh my!" she gasped. "Is that "The Sorcerer and the Odd" book? But they said that there were no more copies! She said.
Mighty chuckled, "Well this was actually my grandfather's." he said.
"Ohhh Sir Mighty, may I borrow it? I promise to return it right back." She begged. Mighty gave it some thought but then had a smile on his face.
"Actually, why don't you keep it, it's yours." He said.
Amy smiled widely "Ooooh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she cheered, she was given the book and left the store. Mighty smiled feeling proud of his gesture.
"There goes a spirited young lady." he said.
Amy Rose skipped across town to return home. She had a book in one hand to read in front of her face while using the other hand to hold a sack of bread. She continued to read while not even thinking about where she was going. She past three townsmen who were carrying three barrels of apples.
"There goes fair Amy Rose." said Espio.
"Wonder what she's so cheery about." said Charmy. "And what is she doing to that book?"
"She's reading, Charmy!" answered Vector.
"Girls read?!" Charmy gasped.
"It's a rare sight to see a woman read, especially if she's so young and beautiful." said Espio.
"You got a point, Espio. I mean, why would a girl that beautiful need to read when she could easily have a husband to take care of her. She doesn't need all that knowledge." said Vector.
"AH!" she yelled. Amy Rose suddenly bumped into a large chicken lady, which made them both fall down from the crash. Amy Rose slowly got up and saw the lady who she bumped into still on the ground.
"Oh my goodness, madam. I'm so sorry!" Amy apologized helping the lady up.
"Hmph!" The chicken swiped her wing away from the hedgehog and stuck her chin up while walking away, feeling angered and embarrassed. Amy shrugged and continued to skip her way home.
"Maybe because she's clumsy…" Espio deadpanned. "It is a woman's place to be graceful."
"She's just different from all that book readin'." Said Vector. "Besides her brother is that genius inventor fox guy, maybe that's why she reads so much."
"How can a hedgehog and a fox be brother and sister, Vector?" asked Charmy. Vector facepalmed at the bee's question.
"Adoption, Charmy, adoption…" he replied.
Amy entered the home of her little brother Miles "Tails" Prowler, a genius inventor whose parents took in Amy when she was a child on their doorstep. After Tails' parents died, the fox promised to take care of his "sister" and vice versa.
"Hello brother!" she greeted."I got the bread."
Tails stopped fixing his machine and smiled at his sister. "Welcome back, Amy. Just set it on the shelf." He said, while wiping the sweat on his head with a rag.
Amy followed directions and approached the fox. "What is that machine?" she asked.
Tails shrugged. "Beats me, maybe it'll go to the moon." He said.
Amy gasped. "The moon? That's crazy!"
Tails chuckled. "Well crazy can be fun sometimes." he said, before coughing. Amy's eyes widened with worry and placed her hands on Tails' shoulders.
"Brother, you must rest, your sickness is catching up." She informed.
Tails nodded and smiled at his worried sister. "Amy, I'm fine..really…"he said.
While Tails was a genius, he did have a sickness that was unidentified; Amy wanted to take her brother to the medication building that was located in the town of Elmore. However, Elmore's medical services were expensive and they couldn't afford it. Despite this, Tails kept doing what he loves despite the sickness, but he still needed the medical assistance.
"I wish we could afford medical assistance. You've been like this for quite a while and it's only getting worse.." she replied.
"Really, Amy. It's nothing. Hey, you mind opening the windows a bit? I need some fresh air." he asked.
"Sure." Amy cracked open the windows, feeling a nice breeze come inside.
"Ah, thanks." Tails said.
Suddenly a piece of paper blew into the house, passed Amy, and onto Tails' face. It blocked the poor fox's eyesight.
"Ah, Amy help!" he shouted, waving his arms. Amy grabbed the piece of paper that was on Tails' face. The fox chuckled in embarrassment feeling stupid of himself.
Amy started to read the flyer. "Hey…it says that the castle staff is in need of a servant woman." She said. "I do need a job to help raise money to get the medical help you need."
"A-Amy. I told you I'm fine." Said Tails, before coughing even more. The fox started to feel weaker so Amy escorted Tails to his small old bed. She tucked him in.
"Tails, you need rest…and besides, how bad could this job actually be. Your family took me in, now I'm repaying them back by getting the help their son needs." Amy said with smile, before kissing the fox on the cheek. Tails blushed and smiled.
"Alright, Amy…I believe in you.." he said. "Make sure to please be careful…I've heard some things about the prince." He warned.
Amy giggled. "Don't worry about me, you just get some rest. Oh, there's some root stew in the pot if you're hungry." She said, before leaving the house.
With nothing but spirit and confidence, the pink hedgehog headed off to the royal castle to get the job. She calmly smiled, looking forward to what her life holds for her next.