Wow, I found a really dumb mistake in this chapter. One word too. Has been edited out now.
A new day began on the continent. It was time to deal with a matter of great importance. No one before has laid eyes on this new ruler of Station Square. They had no idea at all besides the fact that she was a woman. That was all they knew. Would she just end up another Robotnik? Would she change the country's policies on animal relations? It was impossible to know until now.
It was morning in the Chaotix Republic. As usual, Vector was the first to rise. He stepped outside of his manor and took a deep breath. It was a perfect day. The sky was near cloudless. The sun was peaking in across the landscape. A slight breeze came in through the west. The reptile stretched the proceeded to walk back in, but something came to his senses. He heard a commotion in the city. Since he hated crowds and dealing with affairs, he decided to look at the damage first. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his binoculars. He saw an unfamiliar carriage. It approached with what appeared to be humans on horses surrounding it. He tossed his binoculars aside since they came his way. He sat in a chair on his porch and waited. Charmy and Espio came outside not too long after. They sat next to Vector after he told them that someone was coming.
It didn't take much longer for them to arrive. The guards got off their horses. The carriage behind them slowed to a stop. One of the guards opened the carriage and out stepped a woman. Her clothes were unlike anyone has ever seen. It would be normal attire to anyone from Station Square of course. She just had on a white suit. It was normal business attire. Her light, brown hair was laid back. Nothing special was done to it. It hung free and slowly wafted in the breeze. Her face was full of definite features. Her blue eyes seemed deep. She had perfectly crafted cheekbones. Her nose was small and round. She had a cute smile and her rosy cheeks only helped that. She walked towards the three and extended her white, gloved hand.
"I am the new president of Station Square. It is nice to meet you, three nobles of the Chaotix Republic. You can call me Elise."
Vector kissed her hand. The other two bowed.
"It is nice to meet you as well. To what do we owe this visit?"
"As you may know, Station Square has had hostile relationships with the nations of this continent in the past. I seek to change that and fix the mistrust my past leadership left in their wake."
"Really," Espio remarked. He didn't believe her words for a second. "And how will you accomplish your goal?"
"I plan to visit every country myself and extend an offer to each leader, one of convergence. I'd like to abolish pass rulings and officially open trade with all countries. I'd like us to unite. I realize it will take some time, but I'll try my best to mend past relationships with each country one-by-one."
"She seems sincere," Charmy chimed in. "I like her."
"Shut up, Charmy," Vector ordered. He stared at Elise for a while. "I like your vision as well, but I want to see you seek approval from Mobius and Lavertium as well. If you can get those two on board, then I'll be happy to assist."
"Excuse me, but I noticed you omitted the northern lands."
"In all honesty, I do not trust the leadership of the holy lands. Something has always seemed suspicious of Pope Silver and his actions."
In the distance, Charmy noticed a carrier pigeon. He flew up to it and grabbed the note.
Mobius was attacked recently by Pope Silver and his subordinate. Their target was the country's mirror which is guarded at the royal castle. Their attempt was unsuccessful. They were stopped by: Blaze the Cat, Magistrate Cream, and an unknown force. No one was killed and there was only one injury to the arm of Blaze the Cat. Please be weary of Pope Silver or any of his faction in the future.
The note was given to Vector with haste. He read it aloud so Elise could hear.
"As much as it pains me to say this, I was correct. He is up to something. I wish I knew what. Why would he try to steal a holy treasure?"
"This all sounds a bit confusing."
"Well, at least now you understand why I agree with your plan. I think we should unite and provide assistance to each other when we receive attacks from the north."
"I see. I thank you for your cooperation. I shall continue on to Lavertium."
Sonic was still in his room. Miles and Knuckles fell asleep as they stayed and watched over him. Right outside of the castle stood both royal hedgehogs. King Terios just stared into the distance aimlessly. Queen Amy gazed at him. She had no idea what went through his mind. After last night's conversation, he didn't make a motion to go see Victoria who is in his dungeon. He just sat in his throne and eventually fell asleep. She looked around his throne room. One of the doors led to a bedroom. She used a spell of levitation to carry him to this bed. She got in the bed with him and held him in her arms. He cried some more. That morning she made sure to get up before he did. She walked outside and it didn't take much longer for him to join her. She finally decided to say something.
"Why haven't you checked up on Victoria?"
"She escaped."
"What?"
"Don't ask me how; just know that I know she escaped."
"I have to ask how."
"Every room in the dungeon has a means of escaping through underground tunnels. Occasionally I would hide her in one so that no one could see her."
"What were you two doing in the dungeon?"
He turned away and didn't answer.
"Anyway, each room in the dungeon has one tunnel. Each tunnel leads to a different territory. If Rouge put her in the right one the she's probably back in Station Square now. Notice that no one has come to retrieve her."
"Well you are right about that."
"I'm going to check up on Rouge. Thanks for your help Amy, but you don't have to stay any longer."
"I'll leave as soon as Sonic wakes up. That reminds me, I never visited him."
Seems like he didn't remember a thing from last night. There goes my effort.
Sonic jumped out of the bed. He felt better already. He grabbed his sword then headed on out the door. He ran as fast as possible down the hall leaving a blue streak behind him. Once he made it out of the tower, he ran towards the castle's entrance. He saw Queen Amy there and slid to a stop.
"I was just coming to see you," she said. Sonic was not pleased.
"Why didn't you come visit me yesterday? I single-handedly saved Lavertium and almost died. What were you doing?"
"I was consoling Terios."
"I thought you hated him!"
"I do. He's mean, constantly annoys me at the castle, and is so rude."
"Then why did you spend all night with him instead of checking on me?"
"Because ever since we were children part of me has always liked…"
"Oh, that's it." Sonic managed to keep a straight face, but on the inside he felt disappointed. "Well, I wish you luck. Two hedgehogs of such nobility should be together and I hope you get him to come around."
She didn't reply to that statement since she was confused herself. She was interested in both of them. At the time she didn't know which one she preferred and despite his demeanor it was clear to tell that her knight was hurt since she didn't visit him. Sonic turned around to reenter the castle, but his rival came walking towards him. The next statement shocked him.
"I like to offer my gratitude to you, Sonic the Hedgehog. You prevented the fall of my country. I'm sorry for my past actions and would like us to collaborate in the future."
He extended his hand. Sonic received the gesture.
"No problem."
This sight shook Amy to the core. Luckily, something was able to break up this awkward moment. Since Lavertium shared its southern border with the Chaotix Republic, It didn't take much longer for the new president and her convoy to arrive. The three hedgehogs stared in awe as Elise exited her carriage, Sonic even more so. Amy was able to catch Sonic's gaze. Needless to say, she didn't like it. Elise extended her hand to Sonic. Not to Amy, not to Terios, but Sonic. The hero understood this gesture now and kissed her hand. Terios didn't think much of her. She looked nice but was not comparable to Victoria in his opinion. That contrasted with Sonic. He thought she looked great.
"Queen Amy, King Terios, and the time traveler are here. This makes matters much easier for me. First, I would like to thank you, Sonic. I know you might have expected anger, but on the contrary many of us in Station Square have long resented the actions of Robotnik. While his sudden death was a blow to us all, some of us were happy to see him gone including myself. With him out of the way I can now attempt to lead Station Square to a more prosperous future."
"I'm glad I could help, uh…"
"Elise. My name is Elise. You are welcome to visit Station Square at any time. Don't worry; I'll make sure you'll be safe."
"I'll take you up on that one day."
"Now then, King Terios and Queen Amy, I'd like for us to enter an alliance. I want to unite the continent together and destroy any barrier between us."
"With the way that old fart was talking, it sounded as if everything would remain the same," King Terios said.
"He didn't know that most of us were against his actions. We had to keep it a secret. If he found out then executions would have been in order. We figured his old policies were running us into the ground. I want to change that to better everyone across the land."
"I see." The king gave it some thought. "I accept your proposal. This is something I've secretly wanted all along. Let's see this through and usher in a new era."
"Well, Queen Amy, will you help us as well?"
"I see no reason not to. Your plan seems sound. We might be able to turn things around."
"That's great," she screamed with a beautiful smile. "I'd like to stick around and chat, but I should get going. I promise to visit Mobius later."
"Since you are awake, Sonic, we should go back too," Amy said.
"I'll go get Miles and Knuckles."
Darkness surrounded the castle at night. Maria was returned to her room where she slept for the rest of the night. Cream decided to keep the mirror in the dungeon instead of returning it to its original position. She waited in the throne room for everyone else's return along with Blaze whose arm was in bandages. She still couldn't move that arm yet, but it was healing. She could feel it now too since it was as if it was paralyzed earlier. Cream ended up falling asleep in the throne. She was small enough to curl up in the seat. Blaze sat in a chair on the other side of the room and was about to fall asleep herself, but the doors swung open and in walked the party.
"Blaze, your arm," Amy screamed. "What happened?!"
Cream stirred. "You didn't get the note from the carrier pigeon?"
"We didn't hear of a note," Sonic answered. He leaned against the wall. "What happened here?"
Blaze exited the room quickly without uttering a word. Cream had to explain.
"Pope Silver came here with Tikal to steal the mirror."
"I knew it. I knew Pope Silver was not to be trusted," Sonic said. "Wait, Tikal? What is Tikal's position?"
"Ah, Tikal is the highest-ranking nun. Think of her as Pope Silver's direct subordinate. If something happens to him then she takes over," Knuckles explained.
"I heard about her," Miles chimed in. "It was said that she wanted to change the way things were operated up there."
"She fought with Blaze to keep her from protecting the mirror. Blaze almost lost her arm in the process. I don't know if any personal words were shared between them, Blaze won't say."
"So how was the mirror protected?"
"Here's the thing Miles, and don't get mad, we had to use your sister's power."
He kept quiet for a while. He almost let his anger get the best of him, but managed to stay calm. "Every time the ancient power of our clan is used, it shortens the user's life. I understand there was no other way, but please try to refrain from that in the future."
"What's this ancient power," Sonic inquired.
"We are the last of the demon fox clan. My sister and I are children of the king. We both possess the power to call upon our gods to keep the balance of the holy land in check. Sadly, my powers aren't as strong as my sister. Her mother was the queen who also was of royal decent. My mom was a commoner. Our dad was unfaithful. Anyway, she is the only one left that can use the full extent of our power. I shouldn't be angry. From what I understand, she was used for the intended purpose. I just don't want anything to happen to her."
Sonic touched him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll do my best in the future to make sure that she doesn't have to fight again."
"If it wasn't for her then Pope Silver would have surely obtained the mirror," Cream said. "I hope we never have to borrow her strength again either."
"I still want to know what's wrong with Blaze," Knuckles asked.
"I'll go talk to her," Amy said on her way out the room. "Everyone else, get some rest and prepare for the days ahead. Tomorrow we shall host the new leader of Station Square. The day after, registration for the army begins."
Blaze was an odd one. Her favorite spot to relax on was the castle's roof. She was on her back, looking up with her injured arm across her body. She just stared at the night sky. There was a full moon tonight and she enjoyed the light that emanated from it. It took some time, but Amy finally made it up there. When Blaze noticed her, she quickly sat up. Amy gave her a look of concern and shook her head. She sat down right behind Blaze. The cat lowered her head and used Amy's lap as a pillow. She slightly shook her tail as Amy lightly petted her.
"You must feel really confused after what happened today," Amy said. "Pope Silver's actions confuse me as well."
"Tikal was the one who got to me the most. Her words really stuck with me. What if she's right? If this is the path that Pope Silver has decided to take then I can no longer be his partner. It can't work."
"Sounds like she loves him as well."
"Correct. She fought she such vigor and passion. She clearly wanted me dead. She saw me as an obstacle. It was my first time meeting her, but she already knew who I was."
"That could probably be a good thing. Maybe Pope Silver mentioned you frequently?"
"Why would that be a good thing? After what happened I can no longer forgive him."
"But you still love him, right?"
She didn't reply to that question.
"I thought so. I'll give my honest opinion. I've known Pope Silver for a long time now. I don't think these doings are of his accord. The person I knew cared about the general well-being of the population and wanted to protect the whole continent. I can't see what would make him come here to steal our holy treasure. He knows what will happen if all treasures congregated and were activated."
"What will happen?"
"A great calamity will befall us. That is why the three treasures were spread across each continent and no one knows what are the seven keys needed to activate them all at the same time. Such power could reshape the whole landscape so a person could rebuild it in their image. That is why I don't think Pope Silver is doing this because he wants to. He would never want to hurt anyone."
"So why could he be doing it?"
"There are many variables at play. The most likely explanation is pressure from the holy council. Tikal directly oversees the holy council by guidelines handed down to her from Pope Silver. Maybe she is rallying them for a scheme to rule the whole continent? Who knows? Only she does."
"That would explain his sorrowful reactions when he was stopped. He offered no resistance."
"Tikal might be the one behind the whole fiasco. If we are graced with her presence again, we need to capture her and begin interrogations."
"Capturing Tikal won't be easy. She nearly rivals Pope Silver in strength and if it wasn't for Cream at the last moment then I would have died."
"I'm sure we'll defeat her somehow."
Amy stroked Blaze's head a little more under the moonlight. Amy wanted to stop but Blaze made no effort to get up. She eventually fell asleep. Amy slowly fell asleep herself with her own problems on her mind that she had to address.