Chapter 8: Vessel

"You remind me of the Black Wind."

Her words tortured his mind constantly as he buried his face into his pillow, trying to shut them out. This was just one of the numerous sleepless nights he's had, yet everytime, it felt as bad as the first time. Following the voice would be flashes of the only piece of memory he woke up with. Her sparkling blue eyes, her wide smile, her blonde hair and her soft and soothing voice.

Why did Molly remind him of Maria? The two of them were like the two sides of a coin. One killed herself because she had no hope in herself and her planet. One killed herself to save his life. There was seemingly nothing similar between the both of them. After quite a while of light smothering, he sat up and sighed. His eyes were sitting above saggy purple eyebags that blended nicely with his black fur, which was matted by the pillow. He wished he had someone. He never showed it, but he envied Sonic greatly.

Sonic had friends that he could confide in and rely on, while he was alone. Sonic went on numerous adventures with his friends, while he travelled alone. He let his thoughts run wild as he sat on the worn out mattress, enveloped by pitch blackness of the night. Whose house this was, he didn't know. He found it earlier that week, and to his delight, it was unoccupied. The house only had one room, and basic access to water. It didn't even have electricity, tables and chairs and windows. It felt more like a prison than a home.

There was no clock, so he couldn't tell what time it was, but he knew he wasn't going to sit there for the rest of the night. He got off the bed, put on his shoes, and the next moment, he disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a trial of dust.

He rarely ever went for runs like this. Almost every other time he ran, he was either running from something or chasing something. It felt strange to be running without a motive. To him, it was like staring at a blank TV screen, mindlessly waiting for something to pop up despite knowing nothing will. He made about two rounds around the island before he finally came to a stop by a tree near the little house. He sat down, taking in the tranquility of the night. The stars were dim, despite being in the night sky, and the moon shone, desperately trying to push its rays pass the grey clouds enveloping it. The once green grass was now a deep shade of blue, swaying lightly to the breeze. It was times like this he wished he had more of. Times where he could decongest his mind of thoughts that constantly swarmed him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the tree.

"My, my, looks like someone's taking it slow for once," a voice suddenly said. A voice he did not expect to hear in a long time.

Next day

"Stay safe, Cream," Vanilla said as she stood at the doorway, waving to an excited Cream who was carrying a small backpack. Cream beamed Vanilla.

"I will, mom," she reassured.

"And make sure you have your meals properly," Vanilla added on.

"I will do that too, mom."

"And don't forget to call me if anything happens," Vanilla said again.

"Yes, mom," Cream said, feeling a bit annoyed at her mother's fussing.

"I love you, Cream," Vanilla said, smiling widely. It was only a one week vacation less than two kilometres away from home, yet Vanilla couldn't help but fuss.

"I love you too, Mom," Cream said, hugging Vanilla. After saying their final goodbyes, Cream headed to the villa, pulling her luggage behind her. She didn't know much about the villa, but she had seen it a few times when walking by the beach. The houses had triangular roofs made of logs, and the walls were made of thick bamboo nailed together in neat rows. There were about four windows per room, and the second story had a porch with two sofas and a table. She couldn't see inside, as the windows had purple curtains cloaking them from the inside.

It was a fact that Cream was the one who chose this place for Tails' break, but she had only chosen it because she saw an advertisement for it on TV. It looked like the perfect place for someone to get their mind off life for a moment, and it was cheap. It was also on a beach that both of them were familiar with, so they would at least feel a little at home. She beamed with excitement all the way from her house to the villa. Ever since the incident, she herself also wanted to relax, but it seemed as though everything she did was related to Cosmo. Maybe this was what she needed.

Tails was already waiting at the lobby when Cream arrived. He smiled upon seeing her. The lobby was made of wood, and it was extremely simple with nothing more than a few tables, chairs and a receptionist counter.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Cream replied. A small awkward silence followed. He was wearing a straw hat with a purple flower perched on the rim, and he was holding a brown suitcase in one hand. In his other hand was a potted plant. No words were needed for Cream to know what, or more specifically who that plant was. Tails seemed to notice her gaze as he turned his eyes to the plant.

"Sorry... I had to bring her along. I didn't want her to be lonely," he said in a quiet voice. Cream noticed that the way he reacted to situations about Cosmo had improved, and he had learned to control his emotions.

"It's alright... I wouldn't want that too. Somethings just stay with you all the time," Cream said with a small chuckle. Tails gave her a weak smile, before turning his head to the receptionist counter.

"I've waited for about twenty minutes and still no receptionist... that's odd," he said rubbing his chin. Cream frowned and craned her neck to look into a room behind the counter. Nobody.

"Well, I made a booking for Hut 3, so I guess we can leave the money on the counter and take the keys?" Cream asked.

"But what if someone takes the money?"

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here, does there."

She was right. The place was completely empty. It was almost completely silent - too silent for comfort. The only sound was the crashing of the waves onto the shore and the rustling of leaves. Tails shrugged.

"Well, I guess we can do that," he said softly, looking around in discomfort. Cream also felt an omnipresent feeling of distress, as though someone was watching them. She shrugged it off as simple paranoia.

Soon, they found their hut. Tails had never seen this place before, and his eyes scanned all over the exterior of the house, almost studying it. When he was finally done, he put the key in the keyhole and turned it, only to realise that the door was unlocked. Cream raised an eyebrow.

"That's strange..." she mumbled as the both of them set their luggage down in the corner of a room. Tails carefully placed Cosmo on a table as he looked at her worriedly. She nodded. Both of them slowly made their way deeper into the hut, the floorboards creaking under them with every step. The hut was clean on the inside, contrasting to the rather blemished exterior. There was a room facing the beach that had two white sofas and a glass table, and there was a bedroom, with two tidy beds, so tidy that it was disturbing. The last room was a bathroom that had a simple shower set and a toilet. The both of them were heading towards the bedroom when a loud crash was heard. Cream jumped in shock and Tails' whole body jerked violently. Both their hearts shook vigorously in their chests as they took deep breaths to calm themselves down.

"Stay here," Tails said firmly. Cream nodded in fear as she took a step back from the doorway. Tails peered over the doorway and saw a white ceramic vase shattered into smithereens lying on the floor. He walked towards the vase to investigate. However, the moment he stepped in the room, the small doorway behind him was blocked off by raging flames. He turned around and gasped in shock. The flames danced gracefully, threatening to burn anything that touched it.

"Tails!" Cream shouted, running to the doorway.

"Cream! Are you okay?" Tails shouted from the other side of the lethal barrier. The both of them could feel the intense heat radiating to them. From the looks of it, the flame would have burnt down the whole hut within minutes, but magically, it was contained within the thin doorway. Tails raised an eyebrow.

"I'm fine! I'll call Mom!" Cream said as she hastily fished out her handphone from her pocket, nearly dropping it as she fumbled in panic. Before she could even unlock her phone, a thick rope snatched the phone off her hand. She stared at her empty hand in daze. The rope was too fast for her brain to register what had happened. Right when she turned towards the door to get help, a pair of feet swung down onto her head, knocking her unconscious. Tails' eyes widened in horror. He was just about to break the window and get help, but a heavy blow was delivered to the back of his head, knocking him out. The last thing he saw was a pair of pristine white boots before blacking out.

Time Shift

The raging flame towered above the two of them. The flame that had destroyed hopes, dreams and lives of everyone there. Debris lay all over the ground, some melting in the red hot lava. Everything around them was fire. Fire for miles and miles. The world was desolate. Only a hundred or so managed to survive until this day, with about one person dying everyday. The buildings that remained standing were stained in pitch black soot, with massive cracks engraved into the concrete. How long this had gone on, nobody knew. It was like wind in any other world - always there. The giant flame danced mockingly to the two tiny creatures standing before him.

One of them held two emeralds. They glowed dimly, like a torchlight on low battery. An extremely rare source of light, considering it wasn't fire. He looked up to the flames, defiance burning in his eyes.

"You've taken this world for too long," he yelled with gritted teeth. He crossed his arms across his chest, each hand holding one emerald.

"Chaos emeralds, lend me your power..." he chanted. The light in the emeralds started to intensify slowly. "Eternal Sun... the flame that had been entrusted to the Royal Family..."

The emeralds' glows were so strong it looked as though the light was trying to force its way through the emerald. "Fall into slumber with my soul, Iblis! You cursed Flames of Disaster!"

With that, the emeralds glowed furiously, each creating a massive beam that bound each emerald to his heart. The light was so strong, the one behind him had to cover her eyes to block it off. The massive flame started to get sucked into the emeralds. The one holding them yelled in pain as strand after strand of molten flames poured into the emeralds. However, the flames pulled back out almost instantly. The pain was gone, and the flame remained, its tentacles of lava waving threateningly in the air.

"What...?" he gasped in confusion, staring at the two emeralds in his hands. The emeralds continued to glow, their light starting to flicker. "Why won't it accept me as the vessel?"

He focused more of his energy into the emeralds, refusing to give up. This was his chance to stop the flames once ans for all. He could save his once hopeless world. He could bring peace and hapiness to everyone who had survived. However, no matter how hard he concentrated, the flames still rejected to get absorbed by him. He shook his head in utter dismay and anger. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Blaze!" he exclaimed in shock as his partner placed her hand on one of the emeralds.

"I'll take Iblis," she said. His eyes widened. "Don't worry, my soul is already alit with flames. I will be accepted," she reassured, grabbing both emeralds from his hands. He stared in shock as the beam slowly retracted from his heart back into each emerald, only to be connected to her heart almost instantly after she grabbed them. He could only watch in terror as the flames started swirling into the emeralds while her whole body shook vigorously, her knees trying not to crumble underneath the weight. The flames were now swirling around her, refusing to be locked away forever.

"Come on, make it quick..." she said, gasping for air. "Use your Chaos Control to stop time... Then... seal us into a dimension..."

"No! I cannot do that to you!" he yelled. He was on the brink of tears as he watched his only friend getting consumed by merciless flames. She turned her head and locked eyes with him.

"Didn't we already go through this...? We agreed to save the world at any price!" she shouted at him. He knew he had to do it. He focused his energy to his mind as his sigil glowed bright blue. The two words were on the tip of his tongue. His chest felt heavy, and he was on the brink of tears. He slowly lifted his trembling hand, ready to initiate Chaos Control. A hand that would be thrown back down a moment later.

"I can't!" he screamed, head hanging in sorrow. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "I wouldn't know what to do without you..." He shouted in between sobs. "You've fought alongside me to save the world... you're my friend... right?"

At that point of time, he had broken into tears as he watched his partner watch him with a weak smile on her face.

"You're still so naive..." she chuckled. "But... I've always liked that about you..." She was now facing him, a small smile forming on her chapped lips. He looked up into her eyes, and with one last burst of energy, she absorbed the raging inferno into her body.

The next moment, a fiery purple aura enveloped her, and she started to fade. He ran forward and tried to grab her hand, but he could only watch as it slipped through his fingertips. She was now levitating higher and higher into the sky, into the dark clouds that shrouded the sky.

"Good luck, Silver," she said, before disappearing in a massive explosion of energy. Silence followed. He fell to his knees as he watched the dark clouds start to disappear. The darkness of the world started to crawl back into hiding as warm rays of light shone down onto the land below. For once in eternity, the sun had shone.

She didn't know how, but she ended up getting this piece of memory from nowhere. She remembered clearly that it was Valentine's Day, and Silver had invited her over for a movie, since he had no one to go out with. She remembered vividly that that was the night she wanted to tell him how she actually felt about him. They had been friends since childhood, but Blaze felt like there was more than friendship between them. She started seeing him in a new light recently, and what better time to confess than Valentine's Day.

She remembered clearly the moment she decided to let it out. The movie had ended, and the credits were rolling on the screen. It was raining outside, but the fireplace was keeping them warm. She held both his hands, and stared straight into his confused and slightly blushing face.

"Blaze...?" he questioned, but made no attempt to back away.

"Silver... I... I need to tell you something..." she gulped nervously, her face blushing furiously. Just then, she realised that she couldn't feel her hands. Silver realised too, and they both looked down, only to realise that Blaze was fading away. Both of them stared at each other in shock.

"Blaze!" Silver yelled, desperately trying to shake her shoulders, which faded at his touch. Blaze watched in horror as she started to feel light. The next thing she knew, her face was in sand.

Sitting up, she spit out the sand in disgust. However, she realised that she was not alone. Her ears picked up another person spitting out sand and mumbling under her breath. Her voice was awfully familiar, but at that point of time she was too busy figuring out where she was at that time to care about who that person was.

She found herself sitting on the shore of a beach. The sand was pristine white and extremely fine. She scooped up a handful of sand just to feel the warm grains slip through her fingers as she looked around. Further down, there was a forest, and behind her was a few huts. Probably someone's home, she thought, but then she realised that there was a hut that had no door. The hut had a separation at the far end of it, and behind the separation were keys hanging from nails in the wall and a rocking chair with someone sleeping in it. She raised an eyebrow. She had never seen anything like that before. She stood up, dusted herself, and was about to head towards the huts when she heard someone call her name.

"Blaze...?" She turned around instantly, and was greeted with the sight of her trusty, young and intelligent sailor.