An Ixis Anthem

[Geoffrey St John 175]

This is my version of a Christmas Carol but for my mobian form!

 

On a cold December 24th, everyone's least favourite skunk was on his normal rounds when he encountered a hostile glare from the public. This was not new for him and because of it, Geoffrey had given up on seeking redemption for his betrayal. Though he did hope that the up coming holiday may cause the hate to decrease a little. It was then he saw Elias Acorn, the man who he doubts is ready to be king. "Hello Elias or should I say Agent King" said Geoffrey. Elias shot a hateful glare at Geoffrey then said "Get lost skunk, and you could tell the world on me and my team but it still wouldn't stop me regaining what is rightfully mine!" After saying his piece Elias walked away but not before he gave Geoffrey one last glare.

 

After his run in with Elias, Geoffrey was feeling a bit down so he went and sat by the lake. It was then Silver approached him. "Hello Geoffrey, how are you today? Oh and sorry about how Elias acted" said the Hedgehog. Geoffrey gave a little smirk and said "what do you want Ace? I don't have any more information for you on my master. As for Elias, he is well within his rights to hate me. But I don't care, my heart is stone. So make yourself invisible or just disappear for all I care!" Those words hit Silver hard but he still kept his smile and said "Insult me all you want, I am still not going anywhere! And your heart is not stone, you wouldn't have told us Naugus' plan or kept our leader's identity a secret if it was" Those word held a slightly sour taste of truth for Geoffrey. "You make a good point, but I can remedy that and reveal Elias' activities for the crowd tomorrow!" Declared Geoffrey as he got up and left for home leaving Silver without looking back.

 

When Geoffrey got home he sat in a chair looking at a photo of him and his secret service team, remembering the work and praise of his past. It was then a familiar voice echoed through the room in a ghostly tone. "Geoffrey, Geoffrey" it said causing the skunk to feel uneasy. "That voice, it belongs to Valdez! But he was lost" thought a rather scared Geoffrey. Then a translucent image of Valdez came out of the very photo Geoffrey was previously observing. "Geoffrey, you are not being true to yourself. You're trying to deceive people into thinking you don't have a heart by lying to them. If you don't start being truthful then like me you will be forgotten" said Valdez. Geoffrey took in what Valdez said, "you may be right, but if I am to be forgotten then so be it. I accept that to be my fate, but I doubt there is any truth in it. I am hated and people will rejoice at my passing, the end of a traitor" said Geoffrey. "There is no truth in that! I lived a life of lies, never letting anyone get close to me and it was lonely. I have to wear that chain now I am dead but your chain isn't there yet. You still have hope to be honest and be remembered forever. Tonight three more ghost will follow me, listen to them and maybe you can be who you used to be again" said Valdez as he sunk back into the picture he had just came out from.

 

Geoffrey rubbed his eyes over what he just witnessed in disbelief. He thought me must have dozed off so he went to bed hoping he finds a pleasant dream waiting for him. He had slept for about an hour when the sound of scratching on wood woke him up. He saw a black cat at the foot of his bed scratching the posts. The cat said "Ah Geoffrey you have awoken, come our journey can not wait. I am Cocoa Cat, your late Mother in law and I offered my services in helping you be the man my daughter loved again. But in this instance my name should be The ghost of Christmas past" said the Cat as she offered her hand to Geoffrey. He was too shocked to talk and against his better judgement he took her hand after getting on his feet.

 

As soon as he touched Cocoa's hand the room around him started to change, it became a room he barely remembered, his father's quarters in the old royal castle. "In this room, you shared a lot of fond memories with your late father Ian. Times you appear to have forgotten, surely you haven't let your father be forgotten? No there is still one memory you cling to. Lets watch it take place" said Cocoa when a young Geoffrey ran into the room slowly followed by his father. The excitement in the young skunk was clearly very high causing his father to smile. "Geoffrey my boy, calm down. Christmas isn't until tomorrow, so you will have to wait until then" said Ian "But dad! I can't wait! The King said he would let me ride in his royal plane for the day." Said Young Geoffrey in a very excited tone making both Ian and older Geoffrey laugh. "Ah yes, I remember this night it was a great one. This was when my father spoke to me about duty and told me that because of his loyalty to King Max, I was able to ride in the royal plane. That day was truly wonderful for me" said Geoffrey when Cocoa placed her hand on Geoffrey's shoulder. "Speaking of King Max, next we see him" she said and the room changed to the room where Geoffrey got his secret service missions.

 

"The day we are about to see is the first Christmas you had since losing your father" said Cocoa causing Geoffrey to frown at the thought. It was then both King Max and a past Geoffrey entered the room. "Your Majesty, I am here to collect the next mission for me and my team Sir" said past Geoffrey who entered only to be met by a surprised stare from Max. "Geoffrey, it is Christmas eve. You used to love this holiday, how can you want to work? Bah that doesn't matter, no missions until new year, now go and celebrate with the people you care about" demanded King Max but he left before Geoffrey could say anything. Surprised past Geoffrey quickly pulled himself together and went to inform his team. But much to the surprise of the real Geoffrey, the room followed his past self right to his old team. The room was silent but Cocoa spoke, "You told your team the news and most were overjoyed. Bomb and Heavy just spent the time with Rotor, Valdez returned to Angel Island and Wombat Stu went back to Downunda. As for my daughter, she didn't want to leave you alone so she spent Christmas with you. And it wad the only time you enjoyed Christmas since you were a child" those words caused Geoffrey to cry.

 

The room then changed again only this time it was to when he last saw Hershey. The voices of the past Geoffrey and Hershey still couldn't be heard but the were still fresh in Geoffrey's mind. It was right as Hershey was about to leave when time stopped in the room. "Geoffrey, at this moment you wanted to stop Hershey going to spy on the DEL alone but you held your tongue. And sadly that led to the loss of my daughter. And you have felt alone ever since, but we both know that isn't what Hershey would have wanted for you. So please take what I say next to heart. The past is the past. Don't forget it but don't live in it either. For anything broken in the past can be repaired in the present" said Cocoa as the room turned back into Geoffrey's bedroom and Cocoa simply disappeared.

 

Still reeling from his encounter with Cocoa, Geoffrey recalled what Valdez said. "Three more ghosts will follow me" if he was right then Cocoa was the first one meaning the second will cone soon. "Ghost number two, if you are there show yourself" said Geoffrey and just like he asked a new ghost appeared saying "hold your horses skunk, i am coming" and much to Geoffrey's surprise the second ghost is none other than Dr Eggman. "Lets get this over with, I am Dr Eggman, the ghost of Christmas present and I am meant to show you what is happening now" said Dr Eggman. Geoffrey gave a sigh and held out his hand which Eggman took annoyed at his job.

 

The room changed to Silver's room where Elias and Silver were talking. "Elias, Geoffrey said that tomorrow he was going to reveal the truth about us and our actions at the speech. I don't want to believe it but he sounded serious" said Silver. Elias responded saying, "That doesn't surprise me, he has no heart and I don't see why you think he does. But that doesn't matter since I may only have tonight to be with my family. This may be my only chance to spend time with them for a long time. I won't miss it" Silver understood but still felt he had to respond. "Go be with your family, but I know Geoffrey has a heart and I won't abandon him. He will prove me right I am sure if it!" With those words heard Elias left and time stopped. "Even after what you said and what would happen to him as a result if you did, that Naive hedgehog still stands by you. Clearly you had an impact on him since he feels you can change, yadda yadda yadda. Lets move on" said Eggman as the room followed Elias.

 

They ended up in a room in the royal castle where King Max, Queen Alicia, Megan and Alexis Acorn all waited for Elias. "Hello everyone, why don't we enjoy ourselves tonight as much as possible because I may have to go away for a while" said Elias. Megan seemed the most upset about it and she handed Alexis to Alicia who shown her to the ailing King Max. "Elias, you may be leaving? Why can't you stay?" Asked Megan which caused Elias to tell her everything. She responded saying "but if you are arrested for treason what will happen to me and Alexis? We are not real acorns so we will be outcasts" said Megan. Those words rang true in Geoffrey's ear and the room changed back to his room. "You can see that things are effected by you, can you live with the consequences of your actions?" Asked Eggman as he faded away before he heard Geoffrey ask, "But what are the consequences?"

 

Noticing that Eggman had left Geoffrey sat on his bed thinking about the past and present he had seen. "Dad and Hersh both believed in me and Silver does now, but the real question for me is what effect will me revealing Elias' secret have on that innocent baby?" Asked Geoffrey to himself but to his surprise he got an answer from an unknown voice, it said "Do you really want to know that?"  It was then a mini version of Princess Sally stood before him. "My name is Princess Sonia Acorn, the daughter of Princess Sally and Sonic from your time. I am here as the ghost of Christmas future, I only agreed because of mum. But that doesn't matter lets get through this" said Sonia as she grabbed Geoffrey's hand.

 

The room changed to a graveyard where the pair stood on a grave, it was upon reading the name on it Geoffrey began to realise the seriousness of his actions. "It can't be!? It says Elias Acorn! But the date is less than a week from present day! What happened to him?" Asked Geoffrey. Sonia replied "You know what happened, you told the world his secret and he was tried for treason, the people were mad and Naugus used his powers to make them ask for blood. He was hung for his crimes and his wife left a widow. His team mates all got life in prison, Silver included" Hearing that saddened Geoffrey but he had to ask, "what became of Megan and Alexis?" Sonia hid it well but smiled hearing him ask since it meant she was getting through. "Megan is an outcast to most but Elias' mother and sister won't abandon her as for Alexis" said Sonia as she pointed to a small headstone next to that of Elias. On it Geoffrey saw that Alexis had died the same day Elias did and tears hit his eyes.

 

"You can see the pain you caused by trying to be heartless, yet even that is short lived. Following my uncle's death my mother rallied people together and successfully dethroned Naugus, but that battle ended with you a casualty. That empty grave over there with the broken headstone is yours. But I feel my work is done let me take you home now" said Sonia but this time Geoffrey and Sonia faded away just as Sally walked onto the graveyard and up to Geoffrey's grave where she left a flower and lifted up the stone which said "Geoffrey St John, Lost Soldier, Noble to the end" Sally then said "Geoffrey, I am sorry your grave is so mistreated given that the grief over your confession about Elias caused you to sacrifice yourself to rid the world of Naugus, you were a hero" it was then the room turned back and Geoffrey reappeared alone.

 

Geoffrey quickly pulled himself together and looked at the clock, it was 07:45, he had 15 minutes until the speech, he rushed to the grounds where the crowd has already gathered where he saw Elias holding Megan's hand. He walked over to them only to be greeted by glares of hate. He stopped himself and walked onto the stage as he prepared himself to do a speech. As the time came Geoffrey took a deep breath and started, " People of Mobius, as you all know King Naugus asked me to make a speech in his place, recently I pondered what to say but last night it came to me. My father always taught me to stand by my king and to do my duty, My late wife taught me to live outside of my job. Both of them cared for me and would hate to see me like this, a heartless monster or so I thought. It wasn't until an enemy saw the good in me and helped me see some of the light. Then last night I saw some things I didn't like and I saw my greatest mistake. I chose the wrong king! It is time I told the truth no matter what it means for me. I am sure you recall the night of the earthquake? The truth is Naugus was going to cast a spell that mind controlled the council so they would bend to his every whim. Fortunately an unknown force managed to put a stop to his plan, I started to doubt my king and I searched his room. It was then I learned that he had secretly contacted Dr Eggman about Elias' departure and that is why Eggman attacked and caused the respected Soldier Antoine D'Coolette to be in that coma! Naugus is a villain and must be stopped! We need a King we can trust!" And with that Geoffrey's speech ended and he walked around the corner to hide and gather himself only to notice Elias had followed him.

 

"Geoffrey, that speech wasn't what I was expecting. What changed your plan?" Asked Elias to which Geoffrey replied. "The perfect gift for your people is you on the throne again, I knew it from the moment I retrieved Vale's bones but I thought I had no reason to try and stop Naugus and if I did I wouldn't be trusted. But Silver's faith and a small push caused me to decide to at least try and make up for my mistake" Elias was shocked to hear that and he offered Geoffrey a hand shake "I haven't forgiven you yet but that was a start and once I am back on that throne you will have your chance to earn that forgiveness" Geoffrey Smiled and shook Elias' hand when Silver came around. "Geoffrey I knew you would do the right thing!" He said and Geoffrey laughed, " Yeah well you had a hand in that, why don't we go eat, my treat, feel free to tag along Elias, Megan and Alexis are welcome too" said Geoffrey as he headed to Uncle Chuck's with Silver. Elias got his wife and Daughter, they soon followed Geoffrey to the Diner and they group ate together.

The End.

 

So what did you think? I would like comments please.

[Shinomi-chan 294]

I really liked this story. It was great and showed that Geoffrey is capable of doing the right thing and putting his pride aside for his friends. Just as I always expected him to be.