Maria's POV:

I float in this existence alongside peace and chaos. I feel both. I see both. I feel everything and I see everything. I've never seen anything so beautiful and yet so ugly. Where am I?

Where's Shadow?

Shadow's Journal:

I traveled the universe for months and my findings led me there, in an unknown part of the galaxy, staring into the face of the unknown.

A black hole could do anything to you. But the radar said Maria's chaos emerald is there and hopefully with her soul inside of it.

So I gritted my teeth and jumped out of my ship into the unknown.

That sensation was unlike any other. It was as if I were inside a tornado, with the air being ripped out of my lungs as my limbs were torn away. The light on the other side was so blinding I couldn't stand it.

I kept telling myself, "Do it for her," but damn it was hard, the urge to give in was strong.

Then I saw it. A green light. And I dove towards it.

I landed on my back with a thud clutching the emerald to my heart.

God, I couldn't breathe. But I had found it! She was there in my hand! Right?

That's what I thought until I looked at it.

She wasn't in there. It wasn't shining as bright as the sun. It was just a normal chaos emerald. And all my efforts had been for nothing.

Needless to say, I lost it.

I lost my temper, my mind, everything. I screamed, I cried, I punched and ran.

If her soul wasn't in that emerald she was gone forever.

And I had given up.

A dark forest is where I ended up and that's where I stayed for months. I laid there on the green leaves and grass and slept. And slept. And slept.
She was gone and there was no getting her back. It was that terrible day on the ARK fifty years ago all over again.

Maybe I thought I was going to sleep again for fifty years.

And why not? Because fuck everything. Fuck that second chance machine. Fuck saving the world. Why should I? It's not fair. Nothing is fair. A life without my best friend wasn't worth it. A world without Maria wasn't worth saving.

I wallowed in self-pity like a spoiled teenager.

But I had every right to!

Because no one should have to feel like that. No one.

That's what I told myself every waking moment.

Until a cold December night, when I heard a faint weak voice carried by the wind.

"Where's Shadow?"