Ugh, I really hate this chapter! It wraps up nicely towards the end, but the beginning is so bad! xP I kicked my butt into gear today and spent most of the morning laying out the final plot details. I'm having trouble with a few ways to end it, but it should work out just fine. In other news, MULTIPLE REVIEWS! Eeee, I'm so excited!
Lost and Forgotten Memories: I wrote up until I stopped updating in November, then started writing again when I started posting again, if that makes sense. So no, this is all material I'm writing on the fly. And no flaws? You flatter me, heh. You're so encouraging, thank you again!
DahserMan1025: Oh my! That is high praise, and it means the world to me. I hope you continue to enjoy what you read! Thank you for reviewing as well.
Re-Harakhty: Yay, I'm so glad you're liking it! Thank you for reading and stay tuned! I'll be updating as often as I can!
Now, back to the story!
13: Cerulean
"Shadow? Shadow, honey, snap out of it." Rouge shook the black hedgehog by the shoulders again. His head jerked up. Rouge sighed at his bloodshot eyes. "Shadow, you've been spacing out for the last few minutes. We even told the others to go on without us to give you a moment. What's going on?" Shadow rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. Knuckles eyed him warily. Shadow exhaled softly.
"Sorry. I was... lost in thought." His voice cracked at the end and Rouge leaned in to whisper.
"Maria...? Were you talking to Maria?"
"...Maybe. Anyway lets find the others." Shadow quickly stalked away. Rouge flapped her wings to catch up. Knuckles followed silently. Rouge fell into step with Shadow.
"What's going on with you, Shadow? In any other situation you'd be able to handle everything, but you're falling apart right now..." she paused and rested a hand on his shoulder, "you're scaring me, Shadow." He shrugged her hand off and kept walking. The trio walked in awkward silence, just barely keeping up with the rest of the group. Shadow fell into line behind Silver and Amy. His eyes trained on their shoes—he needed something, anything to keep emotionally stable. Maria's memory had the unfortunate ability to incapacitate him, usually leave him on the brink of tears if not completely frozen. Rouge and Knuckles followed on either side of him in case he snapped.
Time passed. The sounds of the jungle lulled quiet in the afternoon heat and when the sun began to turn orange through the overhead leaves, Sonic reappeared.
"Hey guys! I found this really great place we can stay tonight!"
Blaze stood before the entrance to the cave, peering into the depths with caution. Ferns surrounded a bulky stone rim, vines snaked their way across the forest floor before disappearing into the cavern's gaping maw. Somewhere within, the slow drips of a subterranean body of water echoed up. It was a fifteen foot drop at least. Blaze took a step back.
"It's really not necessary to sleep down there, is it? I mean," she chuckled nervously, "there are plenty of other places we can sleep..."
"Look how secluded it is, though!" Amy walked up and looked in. "It's perfect to hide in!" She grabbed hold of the vines and began her descent. Sonic whooped happily and leaped in, his landing echoing up like the water droplets. Rouge shrugged, lifting Knuckles and guiding him gently through the opening. Amy began to struggle.
"Silver! Can you help me?"
Silver rubbed his temples, sighing, "Yeah!" He stood at the top of the makeshift ladder and focused his energy. A blue light surrounded Amy and pulled her away from the wall. She giggled and he set her down at the bottom.
"Thanks, sweetie!"
"Sure thing, uh, dear..." The silver hedgehog trailed off. He turned to Blaze, "Hey. I know you're afraid of heights so..." his facade cracked ever-so-slightly, "please let me help you out right now. As your bodyguard." Blaze eyed him, rubbing her arm absently. Shadow emerged from the trees. He had stayed behind the group to do breathing exercises and calm himself. He looked at the princess.
"I can use Chaos Control, if you like. Avoid the heights all together."
Silver glared at him, baring his teeth. Shadow smirked in reply. Blaze shook her head.
"That won't be necessary. I'm perfectly capable of climbing down some conveniently-growing vines." She huffed out the last word and straightened the hem of her tailcoat before turning around and gripping the vines in either hand. She backed towards the entrance slowly, reaching her foot down and securing a firm foothold. Her fur stood on end. Her teeth chattered slightly. Silver stepped forward.
"Please, Blaze! Don't do this to yourself... I don't have any ulterior motives for helping you, unlike some people." He glared sidelong at the dark hedgehog a few feet away. Shadow shrugged.
"Let her do what she wants. She's a grown woman." He ran a hand through his quills and closed his eyes. Silver rolled his eyes and turned back to Blaze.
"I can help you if you need it, okay?"
"Shut up the both of you! I'm concentrating." The purple cat was making slow progress, the tips of her ears and her feathery ponytail still sticking up over the edge of the cave. Silver sighed and Shadow went to stand over her, smirking haughtily.
"What's with the display of capability, Princess?"
Blaze's eyes flashed, "Did you come to mock me? I'm just trying to live without being a burden. I'm tired of bringing people into my problems."
"A little random to start now, though."
"Listen—ahh!" At that moment, the vines Blaze had been clinging to broke from underneath her feet and irrational panic flared before she could control herself. She clung to the wall as flames shot from her arms, threatening to catch the rest of the vines on fire.
"Blaze!" Silver launched himself to the top of the cave, leaning over with worry in his eyes. "Blaze calm down, you'll burn the rest of the vines!" His gloves glowed blue as he focused his energy, attempting to wrench Blaze off the cavern wall. She hissed and deflected his telekinesis with her flames.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Her tail curled around her and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Shadow rubbed his face and groaned before turning to Silver, "What is her problem?" Silver fretted at the top of the vines, too distraught to argue.
"When Blaze was young, pirates stormed the castle in search of the Sol Emeralds and held her over the side of one of the towers. She was up there for an hour before knights managed to break in and save her. Since then, she's been terrified of any distance more than her own height." Silver turned back to the cave. "Sonic! Someone! Catch her if she falls!"
"I'm here," Knuckles' booming voice rattled up the stony walls.
"Get out of the way," Shadow shoved Silver aside and descended the sides, expertly clutching vines and making his way down. The heat of Blaze's flames licked at the bottom of his shoes and he steeled himself for the pain that was to come. He stared down at the princess, fixing her in his ruby gaze. Her gold eyes were wide and devoid of reason. He blinked slowly.
"Stop your flames." Shadow took another step down.
"I-I can't..." Blaze closed her eyes, panting with fear.
"Try."
"O-okay." The ebony hedgehog watched as she breathed in and out, trying to relax. Her flames began to recede and the charred vines around her smoked. Shadow nodded and continued his descent.
"Good. Now hold still, I'm going to help you down." Blaze nodded, clutching what was left of the vines. Shadow moved off to the side and slid down to the feline's level. He held the vines above her head with one hand and used the other to wrench her chin up. She trembled in his hand.
"Look at me." She opened her eyes. Shadow rubbed the back of his fingers along her cheek, "Hold onto me now—I'll take you down." Blaze nodded. Shadow wrapped his free arm around her waist, securing her to his chest. With shaking hands, she released the burnt vines and wrapped her arms around the Ultimate Life-form's neck. He began to work his way down the remaining foliage, taking care not to slip.
Knuckles called up, "Is everything figured out? The others are claiming sleeping spots and..."
"It's fine," Shadow said, "I've got this handled." He rolled his shoulder, jostling Blaze. She opened her eyes.
"Sorry for being a stubborn idiot. I caused more problems than I solved."
"You got that right," Shadow growled, "now be a good damsel and stay quiet."
"Don't talk to her like that!" Silver hissed from above.
"Yeah, yeah." Shadow was cool-faced outwardly, but somewhere inside, he was grinning, knowing that it was him—and him alone—who had helped Blaze.
"Really, I don't see why you made me travel all the way from my dimensions just for a little game of hide-and-go-seek." The gravelly voice echoed off the stone walls before exiting the gaping hole in the side of the castle. Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik tapped his foot, wondering how his dimensional counterpart could have destroyed so much of the castle with so little to work with. No Chaos Emeralds in this dimension. Pathetic.
"I invited you here so you could help me out with a mission I'm on. It is far from a game, as it could decide whether you and I work together in the future." Nega brushed a small hand-comb through his impressive silver mustache, grinning evilly. "Cerboe, Leboe, give my associate the plan summary." Two small robots—one black, one white—rolled forward, offering Robotnik a manila folder of papers. The egg-shaped scientist flipped through the pages, scanning the information with record speed. He snapped the folder shut, looking up at Nega, raised eyebrows the only betrayal of surprise on his face.
"You want me to help you with this... this... monstrous plan? Go against some of my own ex-employees?" It was almost too much. Almost. Nega's grin widened, revealing a frightening amount of teeth in a wide mouth. He stood from the charred throne.
"I was hoping you could give me tips on how to incapacitate the Princess' heroes. Especially tips on who I've heard referred to as the Ultimate Life-form."
"It amazes me, the knowledge you seem to gather from this pitiable hunk of rock."
"I have my ways. There are more than two dimensions, after all. Now come, give me your answer." Nega approached the crumbled wall, gazing down into the castle gardens where hundreds of robots searched for a hidden entrance to a labyrinth. A labyrinth that lead to infinite power.
Robotnik gave the papers another once-over, simultaneously mortified at their contents and wondering how he couldn't have thought of it first. On the one hand, to finally realize his dream of the Eggman Empire with the help of Nega would be beyond satisfaction.
On the other, he hated to destroy Shadow the Hedgehog.
The manila folder snapped shut once again, Robotnik setting aside his soft-spot for his grandfather's creation.
"I have a bit of an idea. Let's discuss this over dinner."
The group settled around the fire Blaze had managed to light once she had calmed down. Sonic was nodding off on a large, flat rock. Amy and Silver sat together, admiring shiny stones from the cave floor. Knuckles snored soundly while Rouge stroked his dreadlocks, smiling and humming to herself. Blaze poked at the crackling fire and Shadow had disappeared into the cave to explore the glowing, blue lake that Sonic had spoken of. The crackling of the fire soon put Amy to sleep. After settling her into a comfortable position, Silver crawled over to Blaze and sat next to her. Blaze glanced sidelong at him curiously. He rolled his thumbs together.
"Listen, Blaze... Shadow said something I've been thinking about."
The feline sighed, "What did he say?"
"He said that, after we defeat Nega, he's going home with the rest of them." Silver met her eyes, anticipation evident in his amber eyes. The corners of his lips moved imperceptibly, a smile toying with his expression. "Is... is that true, Blaze?"
"Oh, Silver," Blaze pulled her knees up and rested her forehead on them. She sighed sadly, "Even with Shadow leaving, that doesn't change anything between us. I really do just see you as a friend. A very good friend. Besides: you're dating Amy now. Falsely, but still."
"Blaze," Silver crawled onto his knees and folded his hands in his lap, ignoring the latter half of her statement, "don't I have the slightest chance? I mean... I know things got awkward a few months back... but I want to make it up to you. I don't care if you don't love me back... I want to stay by you. I can't do that if he's here, though."
"Silver," Blaze looked up, staring her friend in the eye, "when Shadow leaves, I'm going to remain focused on protecting the Sol Emeralds and ruling Southern Island. You have permission to remain as my bodyguard—nothing more."
"I understand," Silver nodded, "I'll always be here for you, Blaze. Goodnight." He stood gracefully and moved to where Amy lay, settling down next to her. He fell asleep smiling. Blaze shook her head.
Crazy boy.
"Shadow? Is that you?" A sweet voice seemed to be everywhere at once. Shadow rubbed his eyes.
"Maria? Where are you?"
"Shadow! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" The little blonde girl ran from a joint room, her arms spread to receive the hedgehog in a hug. He nearly tripped in his haste to hug her back. Tears clouded his vision and his voice cracked.
"Maria... I thought you were dead..." He buried his face in her hair.
"Silly boy, I was just having some tests done in the medical bay. I'm right here... Shh. There, there." Her small hand stroked the top of his quills. She rocked him back and forth lightly. Shadow inhaled deeply to prevent himself from sobbing. His fingertips tangled themselves in her cardigan. For once, he didn't care how calm he was.
"Maria, it's been hell... Eggman told me you wanted me to do terrible things... hurt people... I did it, too."
"It's okay, Shadow," her small voice reverberated from her chest, "I forgive you no matter what, remember. Now, have you been a good boy other than that? Taking care of yourself?" She pulled him away and looked him in the eye, a teasing motherly look on her face. Shadow felt small.
"I... I eat my vegetable when Rouge tells me to..."
"Silly Shadow," Maria pinched his cheek. "I mean with your friends! Have you made a lot of friends? Is there anyone special to you?"
"You're the only one who's special to me," Shadow looked at the floor. His face was red.
"I'm not so sure about that," Maria smiled. "What about Blaze the Cat?"
Shadow frowned, "What? No, it's just that damned Scepter from her world, making me feel strange."
"Shadow, it's okay to love someone. I want you to know that."
"I don't love her! I said it's the Scepter!"
Maria stood, her voice chastising, "Shadow, you listen to me. The Scepter doesn't create feelings, it only magnifies ones that would exist already. Do you understand? So I want you to do something for me: I want you to accept your feelings. Please love Blaze honestly; she needs you. Now, I'm going to go look at the planet from the viewing bay again! Meet me there when you're ready, okay?" Her cerulean eyes danced. The girl in blue began to skip away. Shadow shot after her into the dark hallway.
"Wait, Maria! What about protecting the planet?"
She was gone.
"Maria...?"
"Maria!" Shadow jolted awake, nearly choking on his tongue as he opened his gritty eyes. He gazed around him; adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was in an alcove off the main cavern, resting against a black wall of stone. A glowing, deep-blue subterranean lake glittered in front of him. Water dripped from the stalactites above, creating a natural symphony. He relaxed back against the wall. It was just a dream. He closed his eyes and wrapped himself in his arms.
It hurts... I don't want to let go.