Sonic the Hedgehog

"Hope."

by James Stewart

Date: 3237/295.2245

Location: Kingdom Valley, Soleanna

It was at times like this that Princess Elise found herself cursing his visit to Soleanna; the long nights spent, staring out of the window, overlooking the domain that, one day, when she was old and wise enough to understand her responsibilities, would be hers to rule. Her short red locks and shimmering nightgown both stirred in the cool breeze that came through the open window, but she barely noticed the cold, despite the goosebumps forming on her arms. Even at this time of night, the city wasn't completely silent; a lone accordionist played a mournful dirge that, in spite of the howling wind – or, perhaps, because of it – carried through the wending passageways, all the way to the palace itself. Elise smiled. The accordionist might have been playing the Soleannan national anthem, but apparently, the people's patriotic fervour didn't extend to this time of night and, very soon, there were angry exchanges, and the song soon stopped.

There was only the sound of the wind now, and Elise liked to pretend that it was him causing it; the unstoppable force of nature who took to the streets every day – and most nights, too, it seemed – looking for adventure, looking for trouble, looking for people to help. Wooden shutters slammed loudly against their frames, chimes tinkled piercingly, leaves rustled quietly against each other. They were the typical sounds of a chill autumn night, and yet, Elise wanted to believe that there was more to it than that; that every sound was caused by him carving a tornado-like path through the city, righting wrongs, combating evildoers, rescuing fair maidens. Was it truly her business to wonder if he had an inomorata already? Probably not, but still, she wondered, and felt the sickly pang of jealousy in her stomach.

"Just how stupid and pathetic am I?" Elise found herself wondering aloud. It might have helped if she had someone to talk to, but both her parents were long since dead, she had no close friends – anyone she might have gotten close to had been intimidated by her royal status – and she couldn't imagine bringing this sort of topic up with her court advisers. The princess let out a long, deep sigh, and once again, had to stifle the curse that was threatening to escape her; such language was unbecoming of royalty, she had often been told, but there were times when she felt the need to rail against how unfair the world was with as much ire and invective as she could muster. And all of this over a blue hedgehog I've only seen once. I really am going mad.

Two weeks ago, all of Soleanna had been celebrating the Festival of the Sun – a day when the people remembered Solaris, a being once worshipped as a deity by the ancient inhabitants of this land – and … he had been there. Not drawing attention to himself, just mingling with the crowd; looking around, curious about the event and the people, and then he was gone. A blur of blue, less than the time it takes to blink an eye. Everyone knew who Sonic the Hedgehog was, of course; the long-time nemesis of Doctor Eggman, the saviour of the world countless times, the conqueror of Chaos, Biolizard, Metallic Madness, and goodness knew how many more evildoers had fallen before him. What had he been doing here, then? In a country where nothing happens, and Doctor Eggman had never set foot?

On the cabinet that stood beside her bed, there were a stack of newspapers; despite the hedgehog's fame, there were relatively few pictures and articles regarding him. At first, this was because of Eggman's attempts at suppressing Sonic's growing reputation, but later, it was because he would simply not sit still long enough to give interviews or have his picture taken. It seemed that he was making his way around the world, starting first in the South Islands – according to some sources, he had been born there in the wild plains of the Green Hills – and working his way across the continents. The earliest news story regarding him was a snippet in the Emerald Hill Krant after the annihilation of the Death Egg; the latest concerned the nasty business with Metallic Madness, a robotic duplicate of Sonic himself.

Elise treasured one particular picture, however; it had been taken in Station Square, just before the area had been demolished by Chaos' mindless rampage – she felt a burst of pride, knowing that Soleanna's relief efforts, co-ordinated by her father just prior to his death, had restored the city to some semblance of its former glory – and it showed Sonic and his friends (though they were, thankfully, kept out-of-focus by the photographer) standing on a bridge with a look of fierce determination on his face. Something about that look, that oozed confidence and cool, sent Elise's heart aflutter. "Am I crazy?" she found herself asking the photo. How can you have feelings for someone you don't know? Someone you've only seen once, and only for a moment? It wasn't possible. "I'm just a stupid, stupid girl having a crush."

That at least did make a little sense; there were probably thousands – if not more – girls across the world who were smitten with the hedgehog, simply because of his reputation. Didn't one of the 'papers mention that? Elise scanned them quickly and found the relevant article, regarding Sonic's coterie: "... an orange, twin-tailed fox named Miles Prower is Sonic's most frequent travelling companion, but seemingly even more omnipresent, a pink hedgehog by the name of Amy Rose will cheerfully follow him into extreme danger simply to be near her idol ..." The article was a few years old, so who knows? Maybe they'd settled down and had kids by now. Once again, the pang of jealousy tugged at her. "Oh, stop it," Elise warned herself. "You can't miss what you never had."

Pulling on a robe, Elise opened the magnificent stained glass windows a bit further and strode out onto the balcony; the wind seemed to have abated somewhat, so it wasn't as cold as she'd feared it would be. If there was one city in all the world that you could truly describe as majestic, it was definitely Soleanna; from her unique vantage point at the uppermost spire of the castle, Elise could see everything: the new section of the city, with its glittering glass-and-steel office blocks; the densely-wooded forest beyond it; the old city, with its stone houses, canals, crumbling church and ancient temples. Elise sighed wistfully upon seeing a few romantic souls taking a moonlit boat-trip along the winding waterways. But the one thing she wished to see wasn't there and it gnawed at her insides. "I'll probably be a very cranky queen if this keeps up," Elise murmured, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

She placed her hands on the railing and breathed in the frosty night air. "Anything to see him again," Elise breathed out, watching her exhalation crystallise in front of her. The princess found herself thinking about the Festival a fortnight ago: Solaris was believed to be the God of Time, and that amongst his powers was the ability to send people into the past in order to correct a mistake they had made. Was praying her only option now? There was no way to get in touch with Sonic himself, given his nomadic lifestyle, and her inauguration would make travelling – except for official, diplomatic purposes – nigh-impossible. "What would I even say to him?" She had a few ideas, of course, but none of them seemed quite right.

Reluctantly, Elise decided to end her vigil; the people of Soleanna deserved better than a grumpy, tired queen who would rule them ineffectually due to her selfish desires taking precedence over their needs. The princess did not believe in Solaris, or any other deity, but couldn't help offering a silent entreaty to the entities which cast a silent eye over this world: that, one day, her path would again cross with that of the blue hedgehog's. With one last hopeful-yet-despairing look across her kingdom, Elise retreated to the warmth of her chamber, sealed the windows and crawled into bed. Sleep would be slow in coming, as it always was, but it would at least give her some respite from the welter of emotions.

Crazed, half-formed images that seem to represent a whole other life. Of Sonic the Hedgehog lying prostrate before her. Of an entire city racked with flames. Of a crystalline monster laughing, gloating, at the destruction he has wrought. Of seven jewels crashing to the ground and turning dark. Of people, her people, dying in their thousands as flame sweeps the entire country. Of a voice; Elise doesn't know how, but she's certain that it's the voice of Sonic, even though he lies dead at her feet. "Just smile, that's all I really need." Of the cool, confident demeanour that the princess finds so intoxicating washing over her and letting her know that, despite how grim things look at the moment, they will get better. Of a hazy, indistinct void – savage and brutal – where three glittering gold forms bring light into the darkness.

Date: 3237/296.0035

Location: The Old City, Soleanna

Not for the first time in his life, Sonic was grateful for his warm covering of fur; snowboarding through the frosty wastes of the Ice Cap, or speeding through the skies attached to Tails' biplane, would be a lot less fun if he was shivering with cold the entire time. Really, the only weather that bothered the hedgehog was rain; there was the annoying matting that took hours to comb out, but worse than that, it left him smelling like a wet dog. But standing on top of the tallest building in Soleanna on a chilly but clear night, watching the last of the sailors making their way home after the midnight cruises had come to an end, was exactly what it was designed for. Tails had been right to suggest this place as a vacation spot: it was peaceful. Too peaceful for a hedgehog with a low boredom threshold an innate need for adventure.

Metal Madness had been an exhausting foe, and with Eggman's fleet destroyed in the ensuing fracas, and the mad doctor himself out of sight, Sonic had felt that he and all his friends deserved a good break; after reading about the Festival of the Sun that was due to take place in Soleanna, Tails had broken out the Tornado and they had ferried themselves out here just in time for the celebrations. After a long day of partying – if there was one thing Sonic loved as much as adventure, it was a good shindig – with plenty of tasty chilli dogs consumed, the hedgehog had watched, like everyone else in Soleanna, transfixed as a beautiful young woman ignited the altar that would be a beacon of joy throughout the entire celebration. But while the others had been enjoying the burning orange flames and the multi-hued fireworks, Sonic couldn't keep his eyes off the red-haired woman.

Despite having never seen her before, something about her aroused his interest. He didn't even know her name. Sonic had caught up with Tails chewing the fat with a local mechanic and they had provided a potted summary of Princess Elise of Soleanna. The hedgehog was only half-listening, however, as he couldn't quite divert his attention away from the princess; there was a vague feeling of uneasiness growing within him, as if he should know exactly who she was. That, in some way, they were quite close, or had been quite close. But that was impossible; before today, he hadn't even known of her existence. It was … similar to the glimpses he and his friends had of Tikal's life prior to the echidna race's destruction. A peek into another life. "Did I know her in past, or future, life?" he mused, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from Tails and the mechanic.

No one had ever affected him quite like this, and for a moment, he found himself replaying something the mechanic had said in his mind. About Solaris and his supposed time-warping powers. Was it just possible that this deity was, in fact, real, and had, at some point, caused Elise and himself to meet? Sonic didn't want to use the word impossible, as so many things he'd considered impossible had actually happened to him, but the idea that some whimsical god was mucking around with his life in this manner? It was far-fetched, if nothing else. Maybe it was just the Chaos Emerald, or the fragments of something similar, which she wore as a necklace? The hedgehog was never quite himself around those things, and they had powers that neither Tails nor Doctor Eggman fully understood.

Or is that just what you want to believe? Admit it, spiky, you find her attractive. Well, all right, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he occasionally found people appealing; not that he would ever do anything about it, as relationships complicated his life too much. The need to be free, to come and go as he pleased, was far more seductive. Idly, he wondered what type of woman the princess was: a brash, vulgar harlot like Rouge the Bat? Demure and sweet, like Vanilla the Rabbit? Creepy and obsessive, like Amy Rose? All three? Something different entirely? Sonic sighed; the cliché ran that redheads were as fiery of temperament as their hair, but the hedgehog never put much stock in such adages. Even if they were right more often than they were wrong. Maybe she was a typical spoiled princess? Selfish and rude, totally oblivious to anything but her own wants. Somehow, he doubted it, but couldn't say why.

There was no one he could talk to about any of this; Tails was a good friend, but too young to understand matters of the heart. Mentioning other women in the vicinity of Amy Rose was a one-way ticket to getting a mallet in the face. Sonic sat down on the cold ledge and wondered if he was the problem; he'd never thought about women much before, and now, suddenly, he seemed to be surrounded with them. Everything had been a lot simpler in the old days, quashing badniks and squashing Eggman. He wasn't equipped to deal with fiery-haired maidens with sparkling blue eyes and smooth, peach-coloured skin. The hedgehog wished the vexing sense of deja vu he'd been feeling since they arrived here would eventually wear off; he'd been to a lot of places in his time,and some of it was bound to look a bit samey, but he hadn't been prepared for the fact that a lot of the city, as well as the princess, was intimately familiar to him.

The hedgehog was quite certain that he'd never been to Soleanna before; he might very well have seen it mentioned in a newspaper, or on TV, or something, but as the Tornado had descended towards the airfield, Sonic could pick out at least half a dozen spots that he swore he'd seen before: the palace itself, the train station, the clock towers with their enormous golden bells, the warehouse district, the canals. Even the people and the daily minutiae of their lives struck him as familiar; their silly little problems, the strange tasks they'd asked for help with. The accordion player and his Song for Elise. Sonic had found himself leaping ahead of the player when humming the tune, provoking cries of plagiarism. The cosplay fan who had costumes of Sonic and Shadow, but also one of a silver-furred hedgehog, and he didn't even know who it was! "Silver?" Why did it seem so recognisable?

Sonic the Hedgehog made a decision; Soleanna presented him with a mystery, but mysteries appealed to him less than his sense of adventure. Doctor Eggman was out there, preparing something new, and staying in one place made the hedgehog feel edgy and restless. There was a big world out there, and he'd yet to even scratch the surface of its enchantments. There was danger, excitement, and most of all, a lot of fun out there. If there was more to this connection with Princess Elise than some vague feeling of association, then it was something that could wait. He was certain that it would all resolve itself in the fullness of time, and if not, he could always come back and try talking to Solaris. With a grin, Sonic leapt nimbly off of the ledge and, in a blur of blue, was gone.

The End