The blazing sun bled high in the noon sky, its burning rays lighting the whole world ablaze with heat. The hot sun stimulated the singing bugs in trees and outward the trees hummed and crooned at the sky as if to thank the sun for another warm day. The wind comes to the silent calls of the city; sweeping away the stagnant heat and cooling the citizens. The baby blue above was absolutely cloudless, and the streets, pedestrian-less. An outsider to the City of Soleanna would think it was probably due to the intense, sweltering heat, but that notion would be nothing but fallacious, simply because the people of Soleanna was in loyal attendance in the Royal Gardens.
A little over a couple thousand loyal citizens sat or stood on the cool grass floor of the gardens, the rest stood within the garden under trees and any sort of shade they could find. The garden was massive, its court was bountiful with fruiting trees and vegetation, millions of colors of flowers smiled, and eye-catching decorative pieces donned the area well, giving the Royal Garden a traditional, aristocratic feeling. Above them, standing grand and shrouded in beautifully tamed vines and brambles is a large alabaster balcony that overlooked the colorful, flower inundated garden. All of this beauty, directly in the backyard of the magnificent castle of Sol. The garden before was beautiful, but now, currently full of cheerful citizens with eye-popping, colorful umbrellas, tiny, quick children running, and the plethora of perhaps thousands of flowers of every color under the warm, gentle sun gave the peaceful garden another exquisite layer of bounty and grace.
Looking down upon such a heartwarming, pure sight of her future citizens gave the golden eyed princess a levitating, smile-inducing feeling. One day, all of this would be mine, all of these people, all of your lives will be well under my rule, I promise. I have so many beautiful ideas for everyone. I have so many dreams to fulfill. I do think, I think that despite everything, I will be the best Queen I can be to these people. As Blaze thought of her imminent rule, she almost cracked a smile. She had absolutely no problem with ruling and becoming a statue of goodness for the Soli people, she just wishes that the circumstances were different. She looked over the thousands of colorful eyes, flowers, umbrellas, and felt a warm, refined feeling settling gently into her bosom.
In less than a week…
As the thoughts of the prosperity of her people, the prospect of power, and the tingling warmth of the thought of success regarding impending accomplishments swirled around her mind fluidly like a graceful pair of koi fish. But unfortunately life cannot all beauty, pain must coincide, and when such a tacit law pertains to Blaze's life, however, all it took was only one quick foul movement for it all to drain her of her good feelings. Like undoing a drain plug, her thoughts cycloned away and her mind sat stagnant as she felt Silver's hand grasp her shoulder vauntingly.
"Isn't it grand!" Silver proclaimed arrogantly over the chatter of the citizens below. His golden-gloved hand waved pretentiously like a bright, oversized flag. He looked rather quaint in his celebratory suit and ornaments, she had to give him at least that. However, his attitude lately has soured her view of him quite some bit. At that, she began to lower her eyes at him. His nose stuck in the air like a monument and the aura of him stank of overpriced cologne and a bloated ego. His mind and shoulders were mantled with gleaming, golden veil. Though he stood tall, his stature was not altruistic. His eyes were bright, but they were not chivalrous in any way. Though he was significantly more arduous to put up with, Silver was still good-looking and still is the closest thing she has as to friend right now.
Her eyes opened up a bit as she continued to look at him, especially his handsome smile. The way he looked right then, right there.. It had reminded her of someone special. Someone familiar. Someone… someone she yearned for.
Slowly she replaced Silver's figure with Sonic's. The wind cascading through his cobalt fur like a waterfall, the spectacular way the sun captures his debonair glow, his sharp eyes, his charming smile, his charming smile… his charming smile… his charming smile….. That smile…
Her mind dabbled with the flirtatious image of the Blue Blur...
Blaze felt sorry for Silver; he used to not be like this. Before he was valiant and mighty, and that light was before the royalness got into his simple head. His naivety crushed any sort of sense he had, he trusted and absorbed like a weak sponge, so the flamboyant and spoiled lifestyle of a Prince soured his personality and mind, and with Blaze's mother in the mix, things just got worse. Though no matter how many times she tried to speak reason to him he dismisses her assumptions and starts talking about how he can't wait to become king or cannot wait to see her in that dress or even sometimes he'll go on about how much he and Aurora get along; this definitely don't serve any type of reassurance to the princess. It broke her heart to see someone who she cared for turn into a snooty, braggart child.
Her mind sadly swam into the pools of past memories within her damaged of a mind and sought the real Silver. She thought back to when she had to leave Sonic when she and Silver had departed from Mobius. She recalled the heartache, the tears, the pain… Most importantly she remembered who she practically replaced Sonic with; the once gallant Silver the Hedgehog. The pewter hedgehog had come with her to aid in helping her get back to Soleanna for the final time. Once upon a time, Blaze felt that Silver would do as an ersatz Sonic the Hedgehog because like him he boasted the yearn for goodness and righteousness. Unfortunately, his naivety caused him to sour because over time he couldn't discern good from faux; he couldn't simply understand the corruption and false good over the good of the whole; the life that comes with being with Blaze demands a sharp, unwavering mind, and since he was not that, hence became a wonderful sheep to Aurora's bidding. Aurora took him under her inveigling wing and the rest is history.
Siiiiiiiigh… the stress that she felt and the ache that she endured was more than enough to drive a normal person folly.
Blaze shook her head slowly to shake away those unhappy, burning thoughts, and then for a split second acknowledged her suitor with a curt nod of the head. "Good morning, Silver, you're here on time." She noted how quickly he got here; usually, regarding loyal responsibilities, he was an absolute sloth and never gave it his full attention. However, for this ceremony, he makes impeccable time.
Blaze blinked and turned away from Silver and put her glinting eyes back on the crowd below and allowed their enthusiasm to fill her soul up once more as Silver replied back to her, she didn't get what he said though, and she didn't quite care.
Silver looked at her via his peripheral vision. His grand smile faltering a bit. He threw an arm around Blaze's shoulders and pulled her closer by a couple of paces, he smiled as he expected her to fluster in embarrassment, she was so cute to him when she does. But Blaze's eyes never left her trance on the colorful crowd below. Her mouth never turned and her muzzle never bloomed.
"I thought that you'd be more excited than this-this today." Silver said offhand. His gleaming, golden eyes continued to peer down at her from the side. He took away his arm and stood slightly straighter. His eyes on the crowd. "It's not every day that someone as lucky as you becomes Queen…" His arms began to fold.
"You're right- but…" Blaze began purely. As she thought, she looks up at him for a split second then back down as her eyes twinkled with ambiguity for the hedgehog, then her eyes traveled upwards, following the birds in the sky.
"Or lucky enough to be espoused to yours truly." He added jokingly, a smirk besmirching his face.
Blaze brought her gaze from above and aimed her piercing glare at him, narrowing her eyes at him as though she prepared to strike. Deep down she didn't care for his attitude, it was something she had grown used to now so it didn't faze her a bit, but something… something about the combination of that gaudy, pompous attitude and that familiar smirk that he held irked her deepest nerves. As she glared at him all she could think of is how similar to Sonic he looked at this point of time. Her glittering, golden glare made its aim from his face in general then to his smirk, and back again. It was so similar to how Sonic held his smirk! Why was he wearing Sonic's smirk? With the image of Sonic plastered in Blaze's mind she found herself looking at a perverted Sonic with royal ornaments and a pair of golden gloves on. Blaze blinked quickly, her eyes and mind playing tricks and foolery on her. She clenched her hand into a fist and took a step closer to him, the stank attitude that wafted from Silver like he had a layer of dollar store cologne on; she wanted to wrinkle her nose at him and walk away.
Blaze felt a rush of fury that coursed through her veins like a fire hydrant opened at full capacity.
"Don't you dare say that again!" Blaze spat viciously. Her tone escalated through the roof and to the stars, her fangs was barely hidden and her eyes were poised on the Silver hedgehog. Silver panicked for a split second and ushered Blaze back into the foyer before the grand patio. Once out of the public eye Blaze slapped away Silver's hand and took a step away from him. Silver smirked again, this time out of slight embarrassment and mild amusement.
"Stop smirking- right now, do you hear me!" Blaze hissed, trying to keep her voice down.
"Wait- Wait- First off what in the hell is wrong with you?" Silver turned his nose up slightly, trying to regain dominance. "You better calm down."
"Don't you dare start telling me what to do, Silver!" She clenched both hands into fists and then unfurled one hand to point at him as would someone a dagger at someone's throat. "I've literally had enough out of you! The constant bickering, the blatant arrogant attitude, and disinterest in my feelings! All you want is to become king and-" She began to spout out, the fur on her shoulders raising slightly in her anger. She kept an extended claw poised at Silver threateningly while Silver interrupted.
"And you act as if you don't!" Silver shouted back, "You've been brooding for weeks, I thought you'd be happier the closer it gotten to our marriage date. I thought you'd be happier to finally become queen! I thought you'd be happier by now, but yet you mope and sleep in constantly, and always complain about the things I do." Silver's eyes were wide and crazy, he was frustrated with Blaze. Blaze almost opened her mouth to retort back, her face was hurt.
"Face it Princess, without me you wouldn't have any of this!" Silver shouted finally. "Without me, you'll probably be married to some old royal guy who'll never listens to you, does nice things for you, and you'll be absolutely miserable!" It was Silver's turn to jab his finger in response. He stood threateningly over Blaze, his nostrils flaring in anger. Purely Silver hated when this happens; Blaze's eyes looking up at him with emotion that isn't happiness and himself over her like a savage. He wished things didn't get so heated, but Blaze can be such a hardhead sometimes.
"You act so high and mighty like the whole damn kingdom owes you prayer hands and their blessings, you act as though no one can hit you, you act as though you're on top of the world!" Blaze breathed heavily for a couple of seconds before continuing. "And most importantly I DON'T OWE YOU A DAMN THING!" Blaze screamed at the top of her lungs, fire threatening to escape from underneath her robes. She casted her eyes to the ground at the side and then muttered under her breath.
"I wish Sonic was here in your stead-"
"Sonic?" Silver's sharp ears caught the mumble of desperation within her throat. Just hearing those words coming from Blaze's throat pissed him off even more.
Blaze lifted her eyes at him at slight surprised that he had heard her, and then quickly as she had lifted her eyes, her eyes changed from procuring a expression of surprise to downright viciousness.
"Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog, I wish he was in your stead! There, I finally said it, you can stop going through my things like an insecure child!" Blaze spat at him.
"Oh please, can you hear yourself? I'm at least twice the man that feral rat is! Look at all that I gave you- I brought you back home! I did this for you-" Silver shouted back at her, his fur growing unruly the angrier he got, he took a threatening step towards her, his hands growing ratty as if he thought about training his fingers around something.
Blaze stopped.
And then she stopped listening.
At this moment her mind was like a torturous playground of sharp things that threatened the sanity of the feline, and her sanity was a clumsy balloon that foolishly blundered upon this playground. She was absolutely disgusted internally at the flagrant arrogantness and the asinine lack of understanding Silver procured. Blaze was horrified and angered so furiously that no amount of comforting could alleviate her frustration. Just the thought of Silver, with the way he is now, attempting to replace the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog gave her mind a shot of methamphetamine straight to the brain. Delirious!
Blaze felt as though she was one moment from flambeing the whole foyer in one blast, with Silver at ground zero.
She withheld a vicious snarl and prepared a stinging retort aimed directly at her fiancé. "Don't be so pompous. I couldn't even begin to form the suitable words to direct to your ego due to its unbelievable size-" Out of boiling anger and pettiness due to Blaze's fed up mind, Blaze sneered and lifted her nose slightly as she continued harshly. "If only your size was as big as your ego then perchance your behavior would be at the slightest bit exculpatory." Blaze spat at him. "Otherwise, it would be exceedingly wise to lose Sonic's noble name out of your fucking mouth before I burn your tongue into a bubbling mass of muscle!"
The Burning Princess of Sol felt slightly better as she exuded some of the pent up frustration she had been harboring for months. In actuality though, Blaze desperately wanted to spit out all of her frustration on his face and rip out his chest fur in an apt show that he is not worthy of such presense of maturity as he acts now like a gaudy asshole covered in annoying glitter. Part of her felt vexed through since he wasn't always like this… he used to be nicer, brave, and noble; naive to the core though, however still a valiant young man with good in his heart.
Is that why I initially drove close to him… because he was so much like Sonic? Because I felt as if I needed to replace the one I needed and wanted the most in life? Am I that pathetic? I turned one of my best friends into a faux Sonic just so I could always "have" him close by? Am I the real antagonist here?
…
Is it wrong to want what I want? Is it wrong to like what- whom I like? Is it wrong to love whom I love?
Is it wrong to want Sonic? Is it wrong, within this life that I coast through, to give what my heart wants?
Sonic… the sweet, flirting image of the Blue Blur danced whimsically within her bubbling mind. To calm the storm, his very perceived imaginary presence graced her mind; as relaxing as a warm summer's eve where the setting sun's last rays lights the settling dust, where the fireflies play below amongst the trees that produces grand silhouettes of dark against the indigo and orange sky. Oh how just the thought of Sonic lulls Blaze in the most calming of moods sometimes; other times it'll cause her to become saddened that he is so far away, and other times it'll make her go a bit… enthusiastic… Nevertheless, her heart yearned for the cobalt savior.
Throughout her fleeting daydream, Blaze missed everything Silver had fussed back. As her eyes refocused on her fiance, she slowly tuned back to reality and was blindsided by his profane retorts to her previous, faux pas remark. She actually felt like apologizing for the miscue, but she never was prepared for what happened next.
As sudden as a lightning flash, Blaze felt the collar to her robe being pulled sharply back. She felt her gold collar constrict against her trachea and she struggled to breath. Her fighting instincts switched on as she felt her body fall backwards and she quickly tried to right her footing before she ended up strewn across the hard marble floor. Whoever you are, you've just signed your obituary! I'll be sure to send your kin the ashes! But before Blaze could strike, eyes bluer than a roomful of sapphires struck through her soul fiercer than a flame-embossed javelin driven at the speed of light. Needless to say, her murder initiative was fixed, and then her composure squared.
Blaze felt her heart jump to her abdomen as she realized it was her mother who had yanked her back. A mixture of fear and anger was relit beneath her lavender surface; internal frightened voices screamed for answers and an internal rebellion cried out for her claws to unsheathe and promptly send a message to her mother. Her mother held her firmly and immediately tightened her grip as Blaze tried to stand back up straight. "You will show respect to your husband! Who do you think you are back-talking him like that?" Aurora's searing stare seemed to drill a deep hole into Blaze's forehead, forcing Blaze to avoid her mother's eyes.
"He reminded me of someone whom I once beheld and called friend, and on top of that he was incredibly rude to me." Blaze admitted simply, her mind then coursed rampantly; but with grace, as she thought about the affable, blue hedgehog which then gave her pleasurable shivers from her cerebellum to the base of her tail. Just thinking about Sonic, especially now, gave her such comfort. It was like a taking a well deserved break from this terror film of a life. The warm, teasing shivers of her body was soon rudely interrupted by a firm jerk by her mother's hands; claws barely sheathed.
Silver stepped forward and stared down at Blaze, then cast a look at Aurora. "She compared me to Sonic yet again." He said with a frown. In Silver's mind he truly thought that Blaze needed to get over Sonic, but yet again she expressed just how tainted her mind is regarding the blue hedgehog. This was not a new thing. She constantly writes about him, but in a sneaky way that she thought that he wouldn't catch on, but he did, eventually. She writes stories about how a "rogue samaritan dandy guy" would sweep her out of her dungeon of a household. Or she would describe how her days used to be green and glorious, and now it is redundant and grey. Silver took offense to that some internal battles was soon proven. He still couldn't have Blaze, no matter how much Sonic stays away, the darn feline kept her mind on him! I'm damn near the best thing that had ever happened to her! I came here when she was alone, I donned the title of prince, and soon we will marry and will have kids thusly. I am giving her a life!
Silver kept his embittered, glittering eyes on Blaze's head while she stared at her mother. Silver's golden eyes started to fill with frustration as he thought about how much his swain fiance thinks about her old friend. His hands slowly folded up into fists and his muscles tensed up. Soon his thoughts donned thorns as malicious things ran rampant. As he thought his mind was almost devoid of the passing of time, and his body felt like it was detached from the world; Silver's unhinged anger drove him to desire getting back at her... His ponderous mind made up scenarios and caused him to go numb, so devoid of what was going on around him that he totally lost the whole conversation that went between Blaze and her mother.
Sonic... Oh, the sound of his notable name, in Silver's mind, grew ever so sour the more the Blue Blur's name was brought up. It only thus procured thoughts that testified against whatever Blaze had something for Silver romantically and emotionally. AND SILVER HATED THE VERY THOUGHT OF THAT. The sound of his name; Sonic, made his lip curl and his mind fruited irrational symptoms such as those a man would suffer through by chronic, vivid nightmares; he grew delirious. His hand, Silver tightened his fist even more, and this time slight popping sounds came from under his gloves; he was flexing his hand so hard that he cracked them. He felt cheated from his long sought, mutual love interest. He felt cheated and betrayed by Blaze, and he became a scourge. As he looked at her, it was his turn to feel the compelling urge to expunge his frustration and raw emotions upon the imminent queen.
But… my title… my crown… my queen…
Silver thought about what he may be risking if he would of done that, the actions of anger that was frothing in his mind.
Silver relaxed the muscles in his hands just as Aurora finished scolding Blaze for her behavior. He thought for a long while as he tried to devise another way to get back at Blaze. His frown never left his face as he thought about what would be a suitable punishment for Blaze, concerning her misguided comparison of Sonic to himself. He frowned as his eyes bored holes through Blaze's skull; it looked like he was trying his damnedest to read her very thoughts. As his internal frustration and enmity for the blue hedgehog, and how his fiance constantly resides mentally on the precedent friendship they had once shared, his discontented frown turn into a hateful scowl.
Silver shook his head as he finished thinking. As if she had just noticed that he was in the room, Blaze put her reddening, golden eyes on him. He cocked his head slightly. "You're done with this Sonic business. You hear me?" He said authoritatively.
Blaze frowned at him. "I could never forget a good friend." She sneered at him, her voice cracked from stress. Her mind was agitated thanks to her mother's signature, severe chastisement, and Silver's growing ego's attitude wasn't doing any justice.
What he said next shocked Blaze the most because his tone and his facial expressions didn't raise, and his face didn't twist up as it usually did at Blaze's retort.
"Okay." The gold-clad silver hedgehog said simply as he turned around and returned to the large, pristine balcony. Suit yourself, darling.
Aurora looked on as he walked away silently, and once he returned to the balconies marble railing she looked back down at Blaze, released her arm, and then stared at her sternly. "You are lucky. If that were I that you had disrespected, I would have sent you back to that lonely island and kept you there for the rest of your lowly, damned life." Aurora closed her eyes and turned around to walk off to speak to an onlooking associate of hers.
Blaze shook her head and quickly buried her melancholic face in her hands as she again tried to resist the emotional storm of turmoil dished by yet another battle with her mother and fiance. Her lame, lamentable emotions and rigid, rank frustration that festered gave her a new feeling of depression. Her bubbling mind and all of its pernicious, exasperated emotions fought grievously to gain its deleterious reign in Blaze's mind. But she fought on. Her mind screamed to her hands to unlock all of her chakras and roast everything in her vicinity with a blaze worthy upon this sick, cruel life. Her eyes pictured the marble blacken as dark as the shadows in the cold, empty space in limbo. Blaze wrapped her mind in curtains dense and heavy to contain all the anger that screamed to be released. She couldn't lose face now, not today, she will have to do as she had always done; she began to hold in her emotions. And she fought on.
As she fought to keep control, she began to hyperventilate. Her breath became raspy as though she had just run a mile with severe asthma while wearing a pollen sweater. Slowly as she regained a bit of her sanity, and came back down to earth, her face heated up in embarrassment as she could only think of the crown's guards, advisors, and other staff or whoever that may be looking on at her chaotic episode. She could only think of their worry as they watched the Princess of Soleanna murmured angrily to herself and shook her head as though there were spiders in her noggin. So many vile thoughts cascaded through her brain like a white-water rapid made of not water, but molten lava. She wanted to lash out at her mother and give her the clawing she deserved. She wanted to shove Silver's pretentious attitude down his throat and hope he gags. She wanted to leave this place forever! Fire fire fire. Burn it to the ground. FIRE FIRE FIRE! I have the power! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE! FUCK THIS LIFE! DAMN IT TO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL! DAMN IT ALL! FUCK.. FUCK.. FUCK… Fuck… fuck… fuck…. No… No No NO… I have to keep it together. I can do this. I can hold it in. I can hold it in… I had to in the past after all… I can do it again.
She then shook her head hard, this time with more purpose as to stop her frustration getting the best of her than shooing away all the angry, misled thoughts. She knew that no matter how bitter and angry she was, she couldn't do something as bombastic and harmful as that to the Soleanna Empire. Albeit, sometimes it was hard to ignore the festering, tempestuous shitstorm that is the curdling crockpot of her negative emotions that was chronically agitated by those around her. She wanted to run away from this all, but alas she is stuck. Stuck in her duty, stuck in her life.
Blaze took a deep breath through soft lips, and then she slowly stood up. Her body was finally calm and her face sternly stoic. Her mind profoundly cleared and distinctly blank. For her image that she'll be showing the public, she allowed the standby maid of the house of Sol to come close to prepare her for the ceremony. Around her they scurried quietly, brushing her fur flat and coiffing her hair elegantly. Blaze kept silent and her thoughts stayed stagnant and her eyes kept straight as the maids ran over her robes in with tiny brushes to clean and de-lint the fabric. Once done they all bowed their heads quickly and moved out of her propinquity.
Friday, the personal maid to Blaze, cared for her superior; her Princess, with the utmost concern. She personally groomed Blaze's face and applied makeup professionally. She slowly brushed the tiny fur on her face and then looked at her in the eyes for a moment as she rested her hand on the curve of her cheek. She could feel Blaze slightly tremble. The princess then lets out a shuddering breath which a single tear followed. Blaze gulped down her pride for the slightest second and allowed Friday to view her vulnerability before she quickly wiped the tear away. She wanted to say something to Blaze, to cheer her up at least, but she knew now that it would be futile; she's wearing her stoic face, the serious kind that basically told everybody around her that she is infinitely uninterested in conversing. It broke Friday's heart to see her Princess like this. She knew the feisty feline since she was merely a child. She knew how strict Queen Aurora is with her, and although she wished that she'd be more gentle, especially since Blaze is quite the emotional one, and she is the Queen after all, and thus Friday knew she had no say in the way the Queen treats her own kin.
Friday's eyes held woeful as she clipped on a new golden necklace around her neck, finishing up the restoration to Blaze's attire. She stepped back and bowed her head respectfully as the princess then stepped forward to join her mother and fiance who both had just walked into the foyer once again to begin the ceremony.
-/-
Blaze stood obediently on the marble balcony beside Silver and a footstep in front of her mother. Droning sounds, low and disconcerting rambling of enmity rumbled in her head as she stared blankly out into the crowd of people and color. The royal spokeswoman who periodically gave out speeches and announcements were talking now. She wasn't listening, but she knew that her mother and her mother's associates were announcing to the whole crowd beneath them that the "noble" and "benevolent" Prince Silver and the marvelous and beautiful Princess Blaze is set to marry on Friday, July 23.
That date revolved slowly around Blaze's mind like a moon would a planet; slow and ambient. She felt as though she was in a trance. Out of all dates… my mother decides on that date. Is this for real? Is this a joke? A mockery on my emotions? Her hollow, golden eyes slowly cascaded from the people below over to the great oceans and miles off until she spotted the tiniest spec of an island. She blinked once and her frown slightly deepened.
My wedding day… that'll be the day that Sonic turns 25.
She sighed… and then her frown grew even deeper.
That is also the day when I was snatched back to this life.