If only that night was just a nightmare. She could've saved them, but she was scared. It wasn't even that long ago. And her brother's face haunted her deep within her thoughts. Then again how could Nova have saved them? She didn't even keep that simple promise for him. Now holding the small sinjed glove tighter in her hands.
The room was pitch dark as the third quarter moon rose high, hardly streaming through the window she was sitting by. As those small memories came flooding back into existence..
Three and a half months ago.
Nova squints her eyes as she, her mom, and two little brothers walked out the dark room into the bright lights of a long hallway. Her nine year-old brother Icecap leaped in front of them happily while walking backwards. "Aw man! That's my new favorite movie! Let's go back in to see it again!"
It was nighttime in their small town, and the theater smelled of popcorn and nachos with many lights glowing everywhere. Some showing a few signs along the walls of other movie releases. People was busling about, going to their next destination.
Icecap is a cyan-colored hedgehog with yellow eyes. He has three quills at both sides of his head with one at the back, and red shoes with a white v-like design at the front. And despite the movie, he was always the hypertype.
"Ha! I wish! But we can't just hid under the seats until the next showing you know." Nova said while fixing her coat sleeve. Nova is violet with long slightly curled-up hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a lavender dress that softly lines down to turquoise, jeans, a pair of sneakers with a turquoise wave at the sides, and a dark-Gray sweater.
The mother looked similar to Nova, but her hair was blue with black ends, also as well as Nova has blue eyes. She wore jeans with an aqua-green shirt, and black coat with boots. "Alright, before we go does anyone have to go to the restroom?" She said as she put her phone away.
"I do!" Icecap answered immediately.
The mom slowly took out her car keys and paused. "Are you sure you can't wait until we get home?"
The hedgehog looked at the keys, then at the hallway. "Nope."
Their mom sighed, then put the keys back in her purse. "Okay, but I don't want to get home too late. I want us to be able to pick up pizza along the way." The hedgehog quickly slipped through the crowd right after her sentence. Nova tapped on her mom's shoulder. "I'll go aswell."
Minutes later Nova walked out. She didn't see her family, so she waited in a corner leaning against a wall.
"Nova!" Icecap yelled running towards her, with tears beginning to stream from his eyes. Nova quickly bounced off the wall and held him by the shoulders. "What?! What's wrong Icecap!?"
Icecap sniffles, and put his hands together. "W-When I got out the bathroom, I-I didn't see you guys, a-and I looked all over the th-theater. I thought I was left behind."
She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Don't scare me like that! All you have to do is wait in one spot for us. Okay?" The cyan hedgehog nodded, right as the other smaller brother came in and pulled Icecap's arm. "Mom said it's time to go." The six year-old informed. His name is Knight, a little red hedgehog.
The mother walked up with the keys ready in her hand. "Now, let's-" She stopped when she noticed Icecap's expression. "What happened?" Nova rubbed the back of her head.
"Uhh.. I'll tell you in the car.."
Nova closed her bedroom door and tossed herself on the bed. Looking up at the ceiling, she kicked off her shoes, which landed on the floor with a thud. "What a day.." She's just glad to be home, to take a break from the school day and-
-and to go back tomorrow.. It's the same thing over and over again. Nothing new, nothing memorable. She doesn't hate it. In fact she had always liked it, but sometimes it's just.. boring.
Nova jerked up now remembering something. "My homework!" She grabbed her bookbag and started flinging notebooks to the side. All this time she has been out and she hasn't even started on one! And it was late too.
Just then her door creaked opened and the cyan hedgehog popped his head in the room. "Hey Nova, do you want to play with me?" He ask, holding up a toy so she can see.
"Umm. Not at the moment, I have unfinished work to be done. And it seems that I'm on a time crunch here.."
Icecap opened the door all the way with a serious face. "Why don't you play with me anymore?!"
Nova paused at that statement and looked up at her brother. "What do you mean?"
"We use to always play together, but you ignored me like if I never even exist!"
She was shocked. "There's just thing's to do, and I-"
"What?! Are you saying that doing whatever you want is more important than me!? Do you remember the last time we actually hanged out together!?" He yelled with his voice cracking up.
Nova's ears dropped down. "It's not that, it's just.." His eyes began to water, tears waiting to burst out.
"YOU NEVER LOVED ME!"
Icecap ran out the room, slamming the door behind him.
Nova sat there in the sudden silence.
It was true. She doesn't spend time with him like they used to. Years before they would play the hours away, even doing the smallest things together was declared a wonderous night. But what happened? One day she just stopped, and didn't even think about what she left behind. Since then Icecap has been alone. Ofcourse he has Knight to play with, but it was empty. And homework had nothing to do with their bondage.
She got up and ran out the room, throwing her bookbag to the side. "Icecap wait!"
The hedgehog went off in his room and locked the door. Nova caught up too late, trying to open the door. "Icecap! Listen, I'm sorry I haven't been spending time with you, I know! Please, just hear me out!"
She put her ear against the door, waiting for a reply.
It was quite.
Then a small noise was heard..
..a whimper.
Oh no, he's crying.
Nova grabbed a small emergency key hidden on the top frame of the door. Resting her head on it while she unlocked the knob. "Hey.." She said softly, slowly opening it. The room seemed empty, but the sound shown his location in the closet.
"I'll play with you tomorrow for sure, okay?"
"NO YOUR NOT! You always say that!"
"Yes I will!" She exclaimed as she paced back and forth in the room, trying to win back her brother. "I promise alright!"
"Do it!"
Nova glared at the closet door questioning this. "Do what?"
"THE promise! You should remember! The one we made up years ago because the real one was too boring."
She's forgotten all about that, but a promise is a promise..
Nova stood in front of the closet with her left hand on her chest, and her right pinkiefinger in the air. "I solemnly promise on my only right pinkiefinger, that I, Nova Alamine Rigel, will play with you tomorrow. And if I lie, you can take over the Xbox for a whole month."
Silence filled the room.
She pulled the closet door open, revealing the hedgehog sitting on the floor with the toy still in his hand. His eyes were red from crying, and his face drenched in tears. Nova held out her hand towards him. "Come on."
Icecap wiped his face and accepted his sister's invitation. The two stood up and sat on Icecap's top bunk of the bunkbed. Just when the smaller hedgehog Knight came in looking up at the duo. "What are you two doing?" He said with his tired hazel eyes.
Nova looked down, then pushed Icecap in his sleeping position under a blanket. "Just getting Icecap ready for bed."
"What!" The cyan hedgehog yelled, struggling to escape the covers.
"Yup, because don't we have a big day tomorrow Icecap?"
The hedgehog stopped and thought for a moment, then knew what she meant. "Ohh. Right!"
Nova floated down to Knight and put him in bed. "Okay then, it's settled."
Icecap looked at her, with one thing in mind. "Nova?"
"Yes?"
The hedgehog leaned at the edge of the bed. "Do you really promise we'll hang together again?"
She got up, with a faint smile showing. "Of course, you can bet on that.."
She turned off the lights and tilted the door slightly open. "Love you guys."
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Nova. Nova wake up! Nova!"
The violet hedgehog jerked up from her sleep. "What! Am I late for school?!"
She then noticed her clock to her right. It was 2:16 am.
Icecap pulled her to her feet, and thrust Nova's shoes in her hands.
"We have to go NOW!"
"Why? What's going on?"
A sudden boom shook the house, as if an earthquake would. But this was different than mother nature. Nova nodded as Icecap ran out the room. She quickly slipped on her shoes and tossed on her coat, running out the room as well.
The night sky was flooded with thick smoke from the burning buildings. The people's shrieks and screams was heard as panic was being further made. Looking off into the distance, a big figure was the cause. But was so very hard to see through the chaos.
"Over here!"
She turned around to see her mom calling her, standing by with her other two siblings. "We have to escape through the forest!" The mother yelled as Nova ran up.
The booming sounds became louder and more violent, the screams also in one direction.
The four ran towards a cluster of trees behind them.
...
Dodging branches and leaping over tree roots, the family trying their best to speed up. Knight was starting to drag, so their mom picked him up and continued running. Little did they know, one of those creatures was following them.
After a while of running, the group stopped to catch their breath.
The mother crouched down to eye level with them. "Listen, if we plan to make it out, you all have to be very brave for me. And DO NOT be afraid to use your abilities."
So many thoughts was running in her head. Fearing on what will happen. Icecap nodded, but Nova was hesitating.
"I'm not afraid to use my powers, I DON'T KNOW HOW! You know how hard it is for me to make even one spark!"
Her mom sighed. "Yes you can. Concentrate, and use your inner thoughts to manipulate it."
The ground vibrated under them, one thump at a time. The mother got up, and pushed them to keep running. "We got to go!"
Nova didn't get it. Here they are running for their lives, but don't even know what they're running from. It was probably best not to find out. But eventually curiosity killed the cat, or in this case hedgehogs.
She quickly took a glance. Dang it, she couldn't see anything. It was like they were running from a ghost.
Icecap looked at his sister with a frightened face, worried on what they might encounter. He wasn't the only one after all.
A strange sound was in the air, similar to a small jet in the sky type of noise. Getting louder by the seconds, and closer. She looked again, only to see a growing red-light in the dark void. The mom's eyes widened. "GET DOWN!"
A blast was made on the ground, destroying some surrounding trees and pulling a few of them up by their roots. As Nova was in mid-air to duck, the force of the blast pushed her forward rapidly. Causing her to fly through the air and land many yards away from her original spot.
Dizzy and sore, she found herself laying in the dirt, trying to bring in on what just happened. As she slowly struggled to get up, the sight of the surrounding forest was dreadful.
The whole area was consumed in fire. The once beautiful trees had no chance as they now brightened up the landscape in flames. The grass was turning black in torture.
It would've been the same for Nova, but for the ability of pryokinetics, she did not.
Now they have to keep moving or-
Wait. They're not immune to fire!
Nova jumped up almost instantly despite her pain, looking all around for a sign of them. "Icecap! Icecap do you hear me!?"
The earth shook with large thumps coming from the near distance. What ever it was. It was coming.
"Mom! Knight!" Complete fear took over her, her heart beating faster. She didn't know what to do. Run. Search. Fight?
After this whole night she saw the outline of the figure. It was massive, it also seems to have limbs.
Still glancing around as she slowly started to back up in the flaming area.
The figure was now closer to be seen clearer. Nova was now terrified out of her mind, because a crazy sci-fi movie came to life. A huge deadly robot.
"I-Icecap! Anyone!?"
The machine went up closer and closer, getting ready to strike.
The hedgehog held out her hand, trying to make a flame appear in her palm. No such luck. Then again, what difference will it make when everything was caught on fire. She had no defense.
A panel on the robot slid open, revealing small missiles ready for launch.
Answer: RUN!
Dodging out the way as a missle took impact. Shielding her head expecting another blast. But instead of a fatal bang, a strange yellow-like goo burst out in the area. Even if it seemed harmless, she wasn't taking any chances.
Soon she was sprinting through the trees with the the monstrosity right behind her. She didn't know what it wanted, only destruction it seems. And the complete annihilation of her town.
Because of not paying attention, she tripped over a tree root. Which almost sent her slamming into a tree. Nova jerked herself up, only to have her right arm held in place on the ground by the thick goo. And the bot wasn't so far behind.
"COME ON!" Desperately trying to pull her arm free.
The robot approached, bringing out one of its claw-like arms to end it all.
Out of nowhere, wind blew by. So sharp that it cut through the arm, and destroying it into oblivion. Covering her face as the small pieces flew everywhere.
The machine studdered back in confusion and now alert. The wind came by again, blowing off the claw from the other arm. Maybe she's crazy, but the wind seemed to have color. Blue.
The blue wind suddenly stopped in front of the robot, and Nova couldn't believe on what she was seeing. A blue hedgehog that appeared to be a few years older than her took a fighting stance at the monster. The hedgehog was indeed a brilliant blue color. Wearing red and white shoes with a golden buckle at the sides of them, and emerald green eyes. It looks like he has been battling these things for a while, because he looked tired. But most of all, how can anyone move that fast?
Nova snapped out of the daze, realising that the two was going to brawl. And the blue hedgehog was buying her time. They both began the match after the wind burst by.
She continued to attempt to free her arm, and glanced at a piece of wood that was alit with a small spark placed near the goo. The little flame was melting it, painfully slow though, but it was doing the job.
Using her hand that was stuck, she concentrated on heating it up just enough to try to slip out. Nova heard noises behind her. Mostly of banging metal. Flinching her ears every time an unjust sound was made.
The machine was almost destroyed, acting wildly as it was maltifunctioning. Swinging its clawless arm all around the place. "Look out!" The blue hedgehog yelled. Nova turned to see the arm come at her direction, too late to duck. The limb slammed into her, pulling her arm free from the goo, and was knocked into a tree. Unconscious.
Flashback Ended
If only..
Just then the door opened, flooding the dark room with light from the hallway. A figure standing with one hand on the knob. "Hey! Tails said that the meteor shower will start any minute." The blue hedgehog exclaimed upbeatedly. Then noticed the small light-periwinkle sinjed glove she was holding.
The blue hedgehog sighed, and walked in. "You know, it's not healthy to isolate yourself like this."
Nova sniffles, and moved her violet hair from her face. "What else am I suppose to do? How can anything like that happen? All in one night?"
"But you can't dwell on that." He said gestering to the glove. "You have to look ahead of all this, and looking back will only make it worst."
She glared at the glove, then held it out. "I still don't know how you found this.."
Sonic sat on the floor in front of Nova with his legs crossed. His green eyes brightly showing. "Icecap wouldn't want you to be sad."
A tear slowly came down. That was the problem.
"But I failed him countless times! And I'm not even suppose to be alive, I was suppose to be a pile of ash!"
"But your not, right?"
His point was clear.
She sat in his shadow, that was made by the light from the hallway. Now thinking.
Sonic stood up. "I've been through some crazy things, and any of us here probably wouldn't have made it either. But we did, and we sill will if we keep looking at the bright side of things. Keep running, and enjoy the breeze. Because that's whats life for."
He gave out a hand towards her.
Nova thought at those words. She can still keep that promise for Icecap, and continue with her life. looking to the future.
She took out her hand, showing that she accepted the invitation..
..
.. Just like her brother would..