A/N: So I hope some of you out there read Sonic Universe, because that's what this is based on. The two issues where it's a 30-years-into-the-future story arc and both Shadow and Sonic are (or was, in Shadow's case) Kings. It's a bit trippy, but I thought it would be an awesome thing to write a ficlet on. So this is part one of a 3-chapter vignette focused on how Shadow lost the throne. Also, yaoi warning, because I'm a sucker for Shadow/Silver.

R&R

--------

The hall was dark, and many of the servants whispered that evil lurked there because of it. Mobians were loving but superstitious folk, and the second the order to keep a castle dimly lit had gone out, the masses had hung on to the stigma "evil" with the determination they were so known for. It didn't matter to the people that his special agents—the dark presence—moved about their duties easier when there were plenty of dark spots to hide in. He was a tyrant, and was to be feared like one, so the lack of blessed light in his castle must immediately mean something evil was afoot. He'd single-handedly brought about the first lasting peace any living Mobian could remember, and he was feared almost as much as Robotnik himself.

Shadow stepped away from the floor-to-ceiling window with all the grace and nobility his station suggested he had. He really didn't mind if his subjects feared him, for the most lucrative Kingdoms were those that both feared and love their monarchs. In the end, he just found his cynicism eating up the irony that was Mobius' fickle population.

As was typical, King Shadow had spent the majority of the evening locked in thought. His duties had ended when the sun went down, and the only thing left to do, as was routine, was to wait for Lien-Da's report. He awaited one other visitor as well, but there was no way to know when he would arrive—if he arrived.

"I am going to retire," came a soft voice from behind him.

Shadow didn't turn to look Sally in the eye. He knew what he would find there. "Very well," he said curtly.

"Should I expect His Majesty in my quarters tonight?" she asked. Her tone was the perfect neutral of any politician; something she'd perfected in her first few weeks in office.

"No. Of course not." Shadow sneered inwardly, but kept it out of his voice.

"Understood. Good night, my King." She was gone.

Most of what existed between the King and Queen of Mobius was formality and posture. Shadow had married her to win his office and the loyalty of the people, and she had agreed in order to serve the greater good. Never once had there been affection of any kind, not even that of friends. A deep-seated hatred on her part, and a distrust on his strangled any kind of tolerance before it could develop. He had bedded her a handful of times for the purpose of obtaining an heir, nothing more.

They would not try again, but not tonight.

Silence made the time pass at a dull, oozing pace. He was lulled into a monotonous stare, as he watched the lights of New Mobotropolis flicker under him. Sometimes, he was almost convinced that he could feel their eyes on him, just waiting for the final judgment. They couldn't know what efficiency was, not when they scared so easily.

"Shadow...?"

Briefly, his crimson eyes widened in a rare moment of surprise. No one called him that, anymore. Not without a "King" tacked onto the front, anyway. Furthermore, it was a male's voice—one he recognized. There was no way he couldn't.

Shadow rounded, and stared at the hedgehog in the doorway. He was sleek, agile, and everything he remembered him to be. There was a tentative look on his face, as if he expected some kind of reproach.

"Silver?" Shadow did his best to sound vaguely annoyed, even though there was a rare thrill lingering somewhere at the base of his neck. He had to keep up appearances. "You're late."

The time-traveler winced, and looked away. "By how long?"

"Three weeks," Shadow said. His voice was a blasé monotone.

"Oh," Silver sighed, and took a few hesitant steps into the hall. "It was only a day in the time I've been working in. A year passed in my home, though." The hedgehog finally met Shadow's cold gaze once more. "I fear that something is happening to the flow of time. This may be the last time I see you for a very long while."

This didn't surprise Shadow, simply because there was not a lot in life that managed to do so. Instead, a sick kind of resolution started in his chest, as if he'd been expecting this news. "How long can you stay?"

Silver bit his lip. "A night at most."

Nodding, Shadow turned back to his cold, safe, indifferent window. In the glass he could see the ghost of Silver's reflection beside his own, approaching, but he chose to ignore it.

"Shadow..." Silver's voice was soft. "I've seen the future of your world."

"Have you?" Already, he could feel the cold indifference setting in. Silver spoke of the future often, but never very confidently. There were so many paths that his time line could take, that it was an art on par with weather forecasts at best. He took what the hedgehog said with a bit of suspicion; it was the best he could do.

"You lose the throne. I think Sonic...kills you, or Knuckles traps you in your own chaos power. I can't be certain." Silver's voice had grown so soft as to be almost a whisper. "It will be a coup that not even your dark presence can stop."

Death. Of course, that awaited all creatures. But he was the ultimate life form...somehow, it seemed like such a mortal thing shouldn't apply to him. Shadow swallowed thickly, and let his eyes slowly slide out of focus. There was nothing to see, the city was in a constant state of unchanging flux.

"The freedom fighters?" Shadow asked wearily. He'd been half-expecting his downfall (if not his death) for a long time, but not at the hands of the fighters that had vanished. "Of course," he said with a defensive sarcasm.

Thin arms, unused to the tries of physical labor, wrapped around his shoulders. A face pressed into the red mass of his quills. "Come with me. Your reign as King must end, but I can save you." Silver sounded like he'd been rehearsing that single line in his head for hours.

"Taking a villain from his natural time?" Shadow asked cynically. "Isn't that against some sort of rule you time travelers live by?" He said it scornfully because he had to. If he so much as gave himself an inch of leeway—the slightest hope—there was the very real chance he would say yes. And he knew without even thinking about the issue that leaving was the wrong choice.

Cowards ran. Creatures that were imperfect: unworthy kings.

"No one would know. You're going to vanish anyway—why not live, and come with me?" Silver pleaded. "Please?"

The muscles around the base of his neck—his shoulders, arms—became like steel wire. He tried to clamp down some of the emotions causing it, but found his efforts futile.

"A King does not run," Shadow rumbled.

Silver's arms tightened.

"I won't allow you to break the order of things simply for my sake," he added reluctantly. Silver wouldn't be able to argue against reasoning like that. He was already guilty about making the offer; Shadow knew that much instinctively.

"But..." Silver shook his head, further burying his snout in the thick quills of Shadow's back. "It seems so unnecessary. They won't know the difference. No one will. We'll stay away from this time, and come back once they've forgotten you. It'll work!"

Slowly, Shadow released himself from Silver's grip, and turned around to face him. He possessively trailed a gloved knuckle down the time traveler's cheek, and didn't speak for a very long time. It was clear that the current issue had him wandering grim mental roads; the dark, frozen ones that he'd once known intimately, ages ago. He hadn't known his own death, then, but he'd known the mental equivalent. Things like this only served to remind him that he'd never quite gotten over the death of the only human he'd ever trusted.

"It won't," he said, finally. "It will change things that need to stay true."

Silver shook his head, but didn't say anything. They both knew that Shadow was right.

"When is this coup going to occur?" Shadow asked, when it was clear that Silver could say nothing.

Defeated, Silver bowed his head. Patiently waiting, Shadow ran a hand through the hedgehog's quills. He did so with slow, wandering movements, in a way that said clearly he was trying to burn the moment into his memory.

"I don't know," Silver said.

Shadow knew instantly that he was lying. It was in the way he looked away, dodging his gaze. "It's soon," Shadow said. He was speaking on a hunch, and from the way Silver flinched, the hunch was correct. "That's why you came back, even at great peril with the time flow like it is." His voice had lost its luster, though it was as commanding as ever. Resignation was setting in."This is the last time you expect to see me alive."

Silver stifled a sob by biting a knuckle. When he was sure it had passed (for the time being), he spoke in a quavery voice. "You live in other time lines. There are some where you never even became King. But-" he stopped, took a breath, and started again. "You're different there. It's not you."

It made sense, even if he could feel something in his breast begin to rot away at the thought of Silver lying with someone who was—and wasn't—him. A version of his life where he'd been slightly less cynical, perhaps, or less cruel. A life where he'd become friends with Sonic, instead of just tentative allies. Maybe Eggman hadn't even fallen in the first place, and they were all still fighting to liberate Knothole.

They were all what-ifs and would-bes. In the end, they wouldn't matter to him.

Silver had begun crying silent tears that soaked the fine fur under his eyes. He'd slid forward and wrapped his arms around Shadow's neck, leaning on him for support, more than embracing him.

"I'll make you a promise," Shadow said abruptly. His mind was reeling, with his mouth running faster than he could think. "I'm fated to fall, so be it. But I promise you I will not die."

Silver stared up in shock. "You can't-"

Shadow kissed him before Silver could argue. It was brutal and desperate, and what followed was even fiercer, but for a few blessed hours, they could both forget Silver's grim tidings.