Walking their way to the train station, Saffron decided to speak up.
"Hey princess, why do you celebrate the Festival of Wind? What did Sonic do to earn something special here but not anywhere else? Was he born here?"
Silver and Infinite, who knew damn well why Sonic should be honored at all, said nothing as the princess explained to the rabbit kid,
"Duchess Elise the Third was very fond of Sonic, and honored him with a statue in the main plaza. But she was never able to meet him: My great-great-grandmother suffered a heart disease in her late thirties and died not long after. My great-grandmother (who was 15 when her mother died) was able to meet Sonic not long after that. It was said that they had a very close relationship- one such as a parent and child."
"How charming." Infinite mumbled under his breath. Elise apparently heard him as she let out a wistful sigh.
"Isn't it?" she marveled. "I've always envied them, especially my grandmother, who apparently was spoiled with gifts until Sonic's passing. We requested to have his passing observed here, but it was ultimately decided that it would be closer to his home country.
"The Festival of Wind held its first ceremonies a year after Sonic's passing. My grandmother was the first to preside over the festival- not a dry eye was found in our city after her opening speech. Since then, we set aside a day in spring to celebrate the hedgehog and all that he's done to keep his generation safe from harm."
"It's a nice gesture." Silver quietly admitted, mostly to himself. "Sonic would have hated it, but would have been humbled at the same time."
Infinite snorted, wondering what rose-colored glasses the near white hedgehog was seeing through. But then again, he had been Sonic's ally, Infinite was not.
"Here we are." the princess announced, snapping Infinite out of his thoughts. Sure enough, just a head of them in a crevice by the train station's entrance was the tear; its shimmer looked erratic, however, almost like flames dancing in an uncontrolled wildfire.
"Saffron," Silver soon instructed, "Stay here with Saga while Infinite and I inspect the tear."
"But she's gonna throw up!" the rabbit kid whined. "Just look at her!"
It was true, Saga was hunched over with both hands at her head, looking more like a lunatic on drugs as she attempted to hold back her sickening stomach and silent whispers of worse demons coming from the tear. Helpless, Silver looked back at Saffron.
"Just stay here." he begged before going to inspect the tear.
Walking beside Infinite, the two got closer to the breach to determine how hard it would be to get rid of it. Silver almost immediately placed a barrier over it and directly after released his hold of it, shaking his hand off like he had been burnt.
"It's too hot." he explained to no one in particular before getting a better look on the world beyond. That was when he froze in his spot. In a soft, low whisper, Silver mumbled, "This is Crisis City."
"What was that?" Infinite questioned, casting the hedgehog a side glance.
"This place… it's called Crisis City."
"How do you know that?"
"I… don't know." the hedgehog admitted. "But I can just… feel it. It is… was… could be… Soleanna."
"How?" Infinite questioned, getting a bit annoyed at the hedgehog's sudden vagueness. Silver never gave an answer, walking slow toward the tear with an arm outstretched as if he planned to enter it.
"There's a reason why Saga doesn't like this tear." he said so quietly that Infinite almost didn't hear. "It's because she doesn't exist on the other side..."
If Infinite had given a reaction to this, Silver hadn't noticed. He was so close to touching the tear before someone shouted, "Silver!" and quickly broke his trance. By the time Silver turned around, some kind of lava-based worm thing had been cut in two by Infinite's blade; Infinite himself staged to prove that he had slashed the thing with ease. The jackal took a restful stance again before looking back at Silver.
"Are you alright?"
For a moment, Silver didn't know how to respond. "I… uh… y-yeah." he finally admitted, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks..."
"Don't thank me yet." Infinite insisted. "Guts Man is about to throw a boulder through the tear."
"What?" the still brain-fogged hedgehog questioned before turning around. Not far from the tear on its inside, a golem made of lava and shadow pulled a large chunk out of the ground and threw it at the opening. Without a second thought, Silver raised his arms and a protective barrier surrounded him- causing the hunk of rock to shatter on impact. This upset the golem on the other side as it then started to advance toward the tear.
"Silver," Saffron's worried voice shouted, "He's coming through the tear!"
Without a second thought, Silver dodged out of the way just as the golem came through. The big thing looked confused for a moment, buying Silver time to get out of its way and back over to Infinite.
"Do you think your sword can cut through that in one swing?" Silver asked the jackal.
"A Zeronium blade can cut through flesh like a hot knife on butter." came the reply. "But I never tried to cut a mountain in half."
Then, Saffron wildly turned to the princess and took her by the hands, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Princess, you need to ask one of your servants to bring your lucky charm ASAP." The rabbit kid's eyes were desperate as he added, "You have to break the seal on the tear with your soul of fire or the tear will spread!"
For a moment, Elise had been too surprised by this sudden request to do anything but she soon nodded.
"Got it." she agreed before heading off. With that matter finished, Saffron turned his attention to Infinite and Silver.
"Infinite, don't slice him in half- he's too dense!"
"No kidding." the jackal snarled.
"Take out his hands instead," the rabbit kid went on, as if he didn't hear him, "It will stop him from creating boulders!"
With this information, Infinite gave Silver a wild, almost impressed look.
"Do it." the hedgehog requested as the golem started to come around again. "If he wants you to do it, that means he's seen something worse."
The jackal gave an affirming nod before dashing toward the golem. Taking out its hands was only a breeze- the monster too slow to react properly to a close target.
"Silver, more monsters are going to come through the tear before Elise can get back." Saffron then said. "You can use your powers to hold them back- but it'll be close. Infinite, you need to keep the golem busy by any means possible. He can't go back through the tear."
"He can't?" Infinite questioned, while starting to distract the golem regardless.
"He can't." the rabbit child agreed. "If you try, other monsters come through the tear. And don't let them get near Saga; don't!"
Silver and Infinite exchanged a concerned glance at this insistence, but didn't have time to question it before starting to do the jobs Saffron had given them. It didn't take long for Elise to come back, something emitting a light blue glow from her arms. Saffron didn't waste time giving orders here either.
"Silver, put a barrier around Elise so she doesn't get hit, and then Elise use the lucky charm to absorb the heat energy around the tear!"
"Right!" Silver and Elise agreed before going through with the plan. Once she was close enough, Elise stretched out her arms to show the lucky charm to the tear- the barrier around it instantly responded by funneling into the charm and into Elise herself. Silver caught a small look at the charm and thought that it looked a lot like…
"Silver, you have to close the tear!" Saffron demanded, more desperate this time than ever. "No matter what she does, Saga will not be able to close it, so you have to!"
"What about the monsters on the inside?" the hedgehog questioned.
"You'll have to release your barrier, and immediately after close the tear." the rabbit kid returned. "Like, super quick; faster than Sonic quick!"
"We'll see about that..." Silver muttered under his breath. He gave himself a little bit of time to clear his mind before releasing the barrier he had, and in a swift motion closed the tear in a blink. The small pop from the tear confirming its status as sealed for now.
"It's over." Saffron sighed in relief, sinking to his knees and sprawling himself on the ground. "Thank Chaos. It's all over..."
. . .
"I'd like to thank you again for closing that tear for us, Silver."
"It was a joint effort, your highness. If anything, it was Saffron who saved us."
Princess Elise and Silver were walking along the canals a day after closing the tear. The princess had required everyone's audience, but only Silver had the energy to answer. It was a very calming walk, honestly, but Silver could sense that maybe the princess wanted to talk for something other than an extended thank you.
"Whoever it is we are to thank, we now know that these tears can be a menace." Elise firmly stated.
"Therefore, Soleanna would be proud to help fund your finding and elimination of these tears. We will help where ever we can, when ever you need us."
"Princess, no offense taken, but we do not really need..."
"May I remind you," the princess cut in, unnerving Silver a little, "We have invented many useful gadgets since our city's founding; we even developed the Wispon technology used in the Phantom Ruby War 100 years ago."
"I know that." Silver unconsciously mumbled under his breath. "I was there."
"Oh?" Elise marveled with a little tilt of her head. Knowing that he had been heard, Silver gave a small flinch and instinctively made a reach for the back of his head.
"Oh, uh..." the hedgehog fumbled, "I'm a time traveler. Sort of. I'm one of those 'paradoxical advent' kids, or whatever they call them…?"
"Those few Mobians that can go forward or backward in time in various ways?"
"Yeah, those guys." he agreed with a nod. "Each kid has a different way of going through time, kinda like a fingerprint. I was able to hone in on one particular person (I could probably do it to someone else too now, I've just never tried before) and after awhile I just… exhausted where I could go, I guess. Everyone settles down eventually."
"Who were you connected to?" the princess asked, her eyes softening with fondness.
"You probably already know..." Silver awkwardly chuckled. "It was Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."
Elise gave a little smile as she looked up at the sky. "I thought so." she claimed. "From what I've heard of him, he's quite a bit similar to you. Kind, brave, and cute enough for someone of your kind..."
"Cu-cute…?!" Silver sputtered in surprise, casting the princess a wild look. She didn't even have to look at him to let out a gentle laughter.
"Princess..." the hedgehog continued to stutter, "I'm not sure if you know, but I am looking at someone else right now."
"I don't have to insinuate a relationship between us to state how cute you are." Elise remarked, still no more amused than before. "But I know your heart has sights on someone else; I've seen the way you three look at each other."
That was when Silver's face started to burn a deep red color, allowing the princess to give a light, humorous laughter that echoed throughout the otherwise quiet canals.
Hey readers! First of all, I want to say thank you for reading, but now I need your help! In chapter 10, Silver and Infinite find a little snowman that has come out of a tear. The tear can't be closed until the snowman goes back to his proper world, but that's the problem, he can't go back! I need help on how our little snowman friend gets back home with the aid of Silver and Infinite, and any suggestions will help tremendously!
Once more, thank you for reading and let those ideas flow!
