Sonic the Hedgehog: The Phantasy of Archangelus
Paradigm Thirty-Four - Into the Infinity Void
All of Spira was broken. Terrestrial planes were no longer as terrestrial as they had been. Islands of soil and stone pavement floated about in the physical absence of space. The ether surrounding "Spira" was no longer lit with stars—it was devoid of such and everything else, save the swirls of ominous hues that hazed in and out of visibility in their stead. The pyreflies trailing about were restless, and the wakes they left were erratic and loopy. Though most of them were traveling in swarms, others trekked in formless and foundationless trails, trying to find any areas of solace.
Nothing was as it had been, so the new environment confused the pyreflies. It was all an endless hodgepodge of stone, concrete, prairie grasses, and other types of terrain. Some were steppingstone-like pathways, while other were the foundations of Spiran structures that managed to stay intact.
Like parts of Thunder Plains, all of Macalania Temple, even some of the Moonflow—though it was no bigger than a lake.
They were all unsure of where they were, on whether they were still in the Farplane. Without spiritual awareness, they would not be able to coalesce. Although forming fiends in a place like that would be unsavory, they would not be able to form into Aeons either.
Which was much to High Summoner Yuna's concern.
Underneath an ornate arch, Yuna had recovered the corpses of Shadow, Silver, and Sonic. Her staff was long gone, so she kept the three close, much like a mother watching over her sleeping children. Her scar had healed over, but the molten mass had evened out with her skin, in the shape of an unknown Yevon sigil, now. Lava streams fell along her cheekbones and jawline once more.
"Oh no," was her mournful whimper. "No, please…!"
Yuna had closed the eyes of the three corpses. Shadow's lifeless body rested at one side of her, head lying against her thigh. Silver's deathly stillness curved along the other side of her, where the chin rested near her knee. The dead weight of Sonic's cadaver was held by one of Yuna's arms, one side of the face cushioned by her bosom. The cheek was chilly there, though Yuna's sadness didn't focus on the coldness.
But the reason for it.
"Not you, Sonic…! Sonic, I'm so sorry. Please don't be dead…at least…"
She held the blue hedgehog corpse closer, the head nestling deeper into Yuna's cleavage. Her tears of lava fell from her chin, but did not burn the corpse's flesh. In fact, it repelled like any other teardrop. A fearful and remorseful hand stroked the heads of all three hedgehog corpses, alternately.
"…Not for good."
THUNDER PLAINS (?)…
The Chaotix woke up to a strange rumbling reverberating in the cave where they found themselves. Vector was rubbing his head a little, just as Charmy was shaking his own. The crocodile growled under his breath. The throbbing in his skull didn't have a precise tender spot, but it was fading. The same appeared in Charmy as well.
"Owwie! That hurt! …Whatever I hit my head on," he grumbled.
The croc agreed, "You're tellin' me…!" He leered his sights back to see their chameleon companion examining a statuette. "Ah, Espio, there you are. Hey, what's up?"
"Yeah, whatcha lookin' at?" Charmy hovered up and stood on his feet. His eyes beamed with curiosity. But within Espio's explaining, something else caught them.
"Strange…?" The chameleon swept his fingers over the glasslike surface. "This material isn't of natural abundance here. This place strongly resembles the Thunder Plains, but this mirror…?" He smoothed his other set of fingers across his chin.
"Wait, you mean that really stormy place we all got lost in?" Vector had gotten up as well. He decided to take a look at a different mirror that was beside the one Espio was peering into. He peered past him to see Charmy looking into a fellow reflection frame.
"Yes. This reflective material…feels like obsidian."
"Hmm…? Is that kinda weird or something?" Charmy asked, knocking against the black glass.
"Exceedingly. Firstly, because obsidian is usually found in areas where volcanoes and calderas have formed; the Plains aren't anywhere near either." Espio planted his fists upon his hips. "And secondly, obsidian…" He peered closer at his darkened reflection. "…Isn't transparent like this."
"Well, maybe it got purified or something, so whomever crafted these amazing pieces could make a decent buck!" Vector smoothed a hand over the mirror's stony lion-dog frame. "Feels like silk to the touch, hard as diamond…!" There was an obvious undertone of greed in his compliments. "These have gotta be worth a pretty penny, if you ask me!"
Espio and Charmy were staring down his raucous guffaws, the blankest of expressions deadening both faces. The blatant "You're not serious, are you?" sculpted the chameleon's seriousness in more of an overtone, however. "You don't truly believe that you can just steal these and sell them on the black market, do you—?"
"Espio, look out!"
The spinning swipe of a spectral blade missed in the nick of time by the shinobi chameleon. He and his two teammates all retreated from the attack. A wraithlike sapphire blade was sticking in the place Espio had been. The trio of mirrors flashed before sinking into the ground. Three Yevon glyphs had beamed with a fluid crimson.
The dark ethereal shape of a tree, much like one of cherry blossom, appeared. Flowers blue with foreboding, Espio prepared himself by unsheathing his twin katana.
"Huh? What's that?" Charmy's voice quailed, just like his fists.
Espio scowled at the sudden appearance of a tall, ghostly samurai. His brilliant blue robes shined with an edgy darkness, his jingasa armored broad atop his head, his face a decorative porcelain mask. A lion-dog pawed out from under his armored garbs. It snarled at the three detectives.
Vector blinked, eyes gaping. "What is that?"
The lion-dog stalked closer toward the detectives. Espio was ready for any sudden movements made by the beast, but observed it retrieving the long blue sword from the ground and bring it to its samurai master.
Espio managed to peek at the longer sword at the samurai's waist. His eyes suddenly gaped. "That's his katana? That means the blade he threw was his wakizashi, his shorter blade…? But…!" Vector and Charmy saw Espio gulp softly before crossing his blades in front of him. "That smaller blade alone…is longer than both my own."
"Espio, you don't look so good," Charmy called. A tinge of nervousness made it into his voice. "What's the matter? Who is this guy?"
Espio sighed, "I do not think this is a living being, let alone a person, you two."
The ghost samurai and his loyal companion readied themselves for battle. The samurai was sheathing his wakizashi.
"We have to defeat him. He's already acknowledged us as opponents, and we must accept his challenge. It won't be easy…" Espio signaled his colleagues to ready themselves as well. "But we must face him. Those two Chaos Emeralds are at stake."
Just beyond the samurai's back were two small pedestals. Each held the blue and silver Chaos Emeralds inside their stony angelic palms.
"Whoa! You're right! There they are!" Charmy pointed at them. "So we've just gotta take down this ol' baddie?"
"But if he ain't alive, how're we gonna beat him?" Vector wondered.
Espio thought for a moment while keeping an eye on both the samurai and his canine partner. The lion-dog growled lowly, while the blade master showed them a hand sign. The chameleon sharpened his stance, a sweat bead falling along his jawline. "He isn't just an ordinary 'baddie', Charmy."
An eerily bold azure design beamed in the middle of the floor. It was a Fayth glyph. Intricate like all the others Espio had seen within the various Yevon Temples, this one held the heaviest dread for him for some reason.
"He is an Aeon, just like the others we've heard about. But this one belongs to a forgotten Temple, one that had been raided in attempts to misguide Summoners traveling to get their Final Aeon. He resided within the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, and it's nowhere near the Thunder Plains…so the Springtide Aeon, Yojimbo should not be here."
"What—! You say this guy's an Aeon?" Vector bellowed, striking an exaggerated pose to compliment it. "Bah! Well then, he's gonna slice us into pieces—to ribbons, Espio! We can't fight that! He'll murder us!"
"Then stay out of my way, and let me to deal with him, Vector." Espio tightened his grip a little. "Grab the Emeralds when I give you the signal."
The Springtide Aeon's eyes flashed, and aimed his hand sign at Espio. The moment the shinobi chameleon's stance changed Yojimbo's lion-dog familiar charge.
YUNA'S LOCATION - At the Same Time…
High Summoner Yuna waited. All she could do was wait, even though time was lost in the endless oblivion. With Sonic still cradled against her, the magmatic tears' trails lessened. Her patience quivered, but she remained calm. She figured out what had happened to Spira, as well as where the now corrupt Solaris dwelled. She looked into the starless sky over her head, where she sat.
A spine-tingling green eye radiated, like a sun. The atmosphere around it was a halo of fleetly clouds, swirling at different speeds like a cyclone. Its white feral pupil focused on her and the hedgehog corpses. Unmoving, as well as unmoved. Yuna questioned the light emitting from it, furrowing her brows lightly. Inside the pupil, the light swirled like that of pyreflies.
'Maybe I can still Summon…?'
She glanced back down at the face in her cleavage. Then to the one at her side, and the other on her leg. Lava tears began to build again. She made a sad frown at the stoic green iris hovering high above. 'There must be a way…!'
THUNDER PLAINS-CAVERN OF THE STOLEN FAYTH…
Espio motioned into a fluid dodge and counterattacked the lion-dog.
Vector and Charmy had split into different directions, heading toward the two pedestals. Vector, at the very last second, dashed in to confront Yojimbo while Charmy made a beeline for the Emeralds.
"Gotcha!" the brave crocodile bellowed, throwing his fist.
"Yeah, me too!" Charmy chanted happily. His infiltration was successful, but he soon noticed that Yojimbo had snatched Vector's fist in midair and threw him across the room. "Uh-oh!" Charmy snatched up the Emeralds and darted away from a storm of kozuka that soared toward him. "Wah-ah-ah-ah-ah!" The samurai Aeon's blades struck the tree instead.
"Vector!" Espio called out. He spotted the croc wheeling through the air before smacking face-first into the wall. He flashed his blades against another arsenal of kozuka, also minding the lion-dog's flaming double-kicks. In the midst of a midair dodge, Espio simultaneously sheathed one katana and tossed a handful of kunai at the lion-dog. It was a direct hit, and the beast howled in pain.
Yojimbo flicked a thumb at his sword guard; he was unsheathing his wakizashi.
But before the Springtime Aeon had the chance, Espio flipped out his Gauge Cross shuriken and flung it at him. Though the shinobi evaded, Yojimbo lost sight of him. Unfazed, Yojimbo readied himself for another attack. This time, his targets were Vector and Charmy. Another blue sharpness brightened his blade. He brought it to his painted face, fearsome porcelain and somewhat vengeful glowing eyes.
Charmy was trying to awaken Vector, who was knocked-out—complete with dizzy spirals. The bee child shook the croc desperately. "C'mon, Boss! Wake up, wake up!" He yanked at his boot and brought the croc's upper body to the ground. "We gotta move, now!"
Startled, Vector gasped, "Huh? Wha—!"
"Vector, Charmy!"
The ghostly samurai's shorter blade came flying toward the two detectives. They could only scream and cower as the sword came spinning at their faces. Charmy had clutched against Vector, who had reflexively pulled the bee into his arms, meaning to shield him.
But a different katana came and deflected the wakizashi's trajectory. In fact, it stopped it in its tracks altogether. Both swords struck the floor.
And Yojimbo had a displeased air about his face now. The counterattack thwarted his own; the ninja's inferior blade was becoming more of a nuisance than he expected.
But suddenly, Yojimbo saw his lion-dog companion kneel in defeat. Pyreflies spilled from the bodily form and flew up, much to his disheartened astonishment. His eyes could not detect Espio, and he was readying his next attack.
His thumb flicked the guard of his much longer blade. He had grasped its hilt when the chameleon's voice cried out.
"I won't let you!"
Two sword swipes. Two flashes—one red, one white.
Espio's natural cloaking had receded just before striking the phantom warrior, who had executed a mirrored counterstrike. Both swordsmen stayed within their strike stances, uneven blades still prone, bodies unmoving. The two metallic pangs harmonized and echoed throughout the room. The sound floated up to the pyreflies that hadn't yet escaped. Their attention caught, they decided to hover there in the air. Charmy caught sight of them waiting. The strength of the swords' clash dulled in volume, and a mild, yet strange, fascination had crept into the bee's bright saffrons. He hummed under his breath. He brought the Chaos Emeralds a little closer to him, as if contemplating about showing them.
Vector gulped at the tense pause in the duel. With a nervous sweat drop clambering down his jaw, he uttered, "D-Did ya do it, Espio?"
But silence was the only return. Neither the chameleon nor the Aeon moved. All three sword blades gleamed. The crocodile blinked, awaiting any sign of victory on bated breath.
The ringing was ebbing, the sound was falling under the normal acoustic spectrum; the lights the swords were emitting also began to dim.
And in one synchronized halt, everything fell still. Including Yojimbo, who fell upon one knee. Sensing he'd been wounded, a low growl rumbled from behind the "mouth" of Yojimbo's mask. Modest defeat glowed in his eyes. His bright red katana stood in the ground as a support.
Espio blinked. He crossed his own katana blades in front of him. "You were as strong an opponent as you are a loyal Aeon." After a moment, both his blades snapped in half. The entire bodies reduced to a length no longer than typical daggers. Unfazed, he let both broken swords drop. His teammates shook at the sight. "I have not the spiritual power of this world to Send you to the next, but I do wish you a peaceful rest, Springtime Aeon, Yojimbo." Espio bowed to the spectral samurai in deep respect.
Yojimbo appeared moved by the ninja's gesture. He nodded slowly to him, and to Vector and Charmy. Vector ran up to Espio's side. He noticed the chameleon relieving himself from his bow. The bee child followed in a hesitant hover, and noticed the pyreflies bobbing about.
To him, they seemed nervous again. "Hmm?" Charmy hummed, tilting his head. 'What's wrong with them?'
Espio moved to retrieve the blue wakizashi. He returned to Yojimbo and stood in front of him. As he did this, he noticed where he was positioning his scarlet daitō. A regretful look swept over Espio's face.
"Is this why you kept throwing this at us?" Espio asked in a gentle, forgiving tone. He was referring to the blue sword in his hands.
The broad armored jingasa tilted back and forth; a nod, Espio confirmed.
"I see. Then, I am obliged, and honored, to aid in your Sending, Springtime Aeon."
Vector looked on, with Charmy hovering away with the Chaos Emeralds. As the bee child inspected the pyreflies, Vector watched how Espio circled to the back of Yojimbo. Espio was moving in choreographed steps, as if planned in advance. His feet glided along the floor, his handholds on the wakizashi delicate yet firm. Calm and collected were in the air of the samurai and ninja. An aghast expression flew over the green crocodile's face as he saw the blue blade being brought to the Aeon's neck, and the red blade poised at his abdomen.
The samurai's daishō, the red daitō and blue shōtō.
"Aw no…" Vector murmured. "This ain't what I think it is…?"
Espio held his composure, as did Yojimbo. There was an agreement with the procedure. It was nearly unheard of to Espio until now. Normally, a ninja would never help in a samurai's death, unless oddly employed as an assistant; other than that, he would have to kill the enemy with his own two hands. Since Espio knew nothing of this samurai Aeon and that their connection was vague to begin with, Espio figured anything could happen. Even aiding a natural enemy in hara-kiri.
"One slice…that will aid in your Sending," Espio remarked morosely. A single hand sign was brought to his face, and he centered his energy into it. Focus would help in his precision, precision that he and Yojimbo were sharing. And at the same time, both blades struck.
And Vector had to turn away.
Charmy, however, never noticed. He was busy creeping on the pyreflies. To the point where, after the execution, they flittered away.
"Hey, wait! Where're ya goin'? I wasn't really gonna hurt ya—honest!" Charmy whined.
"Charmy, get back here and let's go," Vector snapped a little.
The ritualistic killing completely evaded Charmy's awareness, much to both Vector and Espio's thankfulness. The junior bee buzzed back over and saw the somber looks on his seniors' faces.
"Huh? What's with the long faces, you guys?" he wondered. "We beat the ghost samurai! And—we've got two Chaos Emeralds now! Bee happy!" He chuckled with pure, lighthearted encouragement.
Vector looked to the chameleon shinobi and smirked a little.
Espio nodded, also with nothing to say, in return.
"Please help them…"
All three Detectives picked up a voice. It was that of a woman. The sound was whispery and somewhat hoarse, and Espio worried that she might be in distress. He and his comrades darted their eyes back toward the crystalline tree.
A woman with distinct white patterns on her ghostlike caramel face was kneeling at the tree's base. Her robes were of plum variants and beige complements, and two broad chignons that looked like bowls wrapped her hair at either sides of the head. An interesting sash pulled her dress together, and Espio had a sense that she was very much like Lady Yuna.
"You are…a Summoner as well?" came the ninja's gentle inquiry.
Blue blossom petals rained down from the crystal boughs, upon the shoulders and lap of the unknown woman. A relieved expression carved an awestruck smile on her face.
"Yes. And I pray that you will save them…on behalf of all of Spira's inhabitants. Destroy Solaris, and save them."
"Yes, of course, my lady," Espio addressed her, bowing in respect.
Vector and Charmy nodded in the same way.
"I bless you with my strength remaining, as a former Summoner, Lady Ginnem of the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth."
The pyreflies from Yojimbo, and the ones in waiting, swirled around her. She motioned the Yevon prayer and bowed to the Chaotix Detectives.
"G'bye, pretty Summoner lady…" Charmy waved sweetly at her.
Her farewell was a returned wave that was just as sweet. She and the surrounding pyreflies all coalesced to form a mystical, glowing stream. The orbs of light climbed around the crystal tree, it blackening into a familiar obsidian. The last of the blue flora also blackened before resting on the ground.
An opening in the cave's roof allowed the spectral stream to exit the cavern.
BACK AT YUNA'S LOCATION…
High Summoner Yuna watched a glowing rivulet suddenly appear from behind her. She gaped in awe, seeing the many a pyrefly bobble and wiggle somewhat playfully in their formation. They were swimming altogether.
Toward that sinister eye.
"It keeps staring at me."
Yuna had to admit that she felt unnerved by it. As much as she wanted to ignore it, she knew its presence played a fundamental significance to the situation at hand. None of the Otherworlders were there with her, besides the corpses of Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. She feared for them, for their safety, that they were no longer living as well. She could sense all of Spira's dead floating in that space. It did rattle her heart.
But hope couldn't help shining forth.
"You won't be gone forever, you three," she promised. Her heterochromous gaze stayed on that demonic eye's white pupil. The pyrefly stream from earlier must have disappeared into it, she surmised. Her visage showed a brainstorm. "I will bring you back. I will not let you stay this way."
The gleam of white between her lips was from one of her tiny gritted fangs. 'This bereavement I sense, though…? And that voice…?'
MACALANIA TEMPLE (?)…
Three of the only girls found themselves within one another's proximity. Amy Rose, Rouge the Bat, and Pyromantic Guardian Blaze the Cat were looking about. Amy and Rouge gazed at the icy watery archway over their heads, while Blaze observed the statues. She noticed that the few there no longer had their faces—nor their busts, for that matter. Even High Summoner Braska's likeness was missing its head and shoulders. The sight was chilling to her.
Though she did remember Braska's face, and a tiny blush made its way into her cheeks. She checked her magic threshold by snapping her fingers; a fireball appeared.
"Hey, you've got your fire magic back, Blaze!" Amy cheered. "That means that creepy Silence spell's worn off, right?"
"Yes, indeed. But…" Blaze glanced around the chamber. "Is anyone else, umm, unnerved by this place?"
"Well, now that you say something," Rouge put in. "Even though it's very pretty, it's just as creepy, too. Where are we, exactly?"
"This is Macalania Temple…where the Glacial Aeon, Shiva, supposedly resides."
"Wow, no way! So this is it, huh?" Rouge marveled the grandiosity this Temple—if not, all the ones she'd seen—was able to keep up. The massive vaulted ceilings soared up, uncertain of where the ceiling was. Yevon banners and glyphs kept their mark on the place. At one point, however, it seemed like unnecessary decoration to Rouge. But then, she remembered the Aeon's acknowledged smile, back when Shadow had defeated her. 'She intentionally conceded defeat…? And her gaze…!'
"Also…this is the place Silver promised our Lady, High Summoner Lenne, he would take her to see, despite its frigid altitude. He could've never done so without my fire magic, though; he…simply would have…" Blaze's next comment fell into a crumbling murmur.
Amy shivered. "It is cold here, isn't it?" She blinked at Blaze. On impulse, she threw her arms around her waist. "But don't let it get to you. This cold, nor Silver. Okay?"
Blaze had gasped a little under her breath. 'Silver?' she thought, shyly returning the pink hedgehog's comforting embrace. "Ah, hah…thank you, Amy," came the shy, heartrending return.
Behind them awaited three sets of doors. The Yevon glyph engraved in each of them, drapes of varied colors encased it with icy elegance. From left to right were long gossamers of emerald, citron, and scarlet.
"Hey, girls? Take a look that this."
Rouge pointed so the approaching Amy and Blaze could see what she was seeing. Upon seeing them blink, she went on with, "They look like entrances to different rooms, since there's no exit," shrugging. "Looks like they're the only ways to go from here."
As Rouge indicated, Blaze found the Temple's main entrance was missing, indeed. She furrowed her brows in slight befuddlement before nodding to herself; silently, she noted the missing doors.
"I guess this temple's bigger than I thought," Amy commented. She looked around some more and noticed something else. "Where is everybody else? Is the Temple so big that we've lost each other?" Then, in a panic, "Oh no, where's Yuna? And Tails, and Cream and Cheese? Oh my gosh!"
"I'm sure they're safe where they are, Amy," Blaze stepped up toward the middle entrance. The stairs that graced before her were tall and narrow, but not too daunting to scale. "Although, things are noticeably…stranger here. I can feel an indistinct presence all around us, perhaps even outside the temple. It is a strong, ominous presence—one that could solely belong to the corrupt Mystic Illumine…but immensely amplified."
"Immensely amplified?" Rouge repeated, shocked and in disbelief. "You mean his wicked creepiness is even stronger now?" She was about to cross over to the scarlet-draped doors before she caught herself waiting for Blaze's response. "But how?"
"His Time Magic spell, Infinity Void, has trapped all of us here. It is a spell that distorts all time and space, so the entirety of Spira must have been engulfed by it, too. Which could only mean one thing…" The feline Guardian side-glanced at Rouge.
Amy backed closer to the emerald-garbed entrance, watching Blaze stop at one stair step. She brought her hands up to her mouth. Her tears were beginning to bubble at her eyelids. A new despair had washed over her.
"Solaris's presence has been restored and reestablished," Rouge spoke with an overhanging dread in her tone. She clenched her fist. A glint of sorrow glided over her turquoise irises.
"Yes, but more disastrously…he has arisen from the corrupt forms of the Carnal Fervor and the Mystic Illumine."
"Oh no!" Tears cascaded from the pink hedgehog's bright green eyes. 'That means they were still angry and consumed by evil when they rejoined…!' They plopped against the crystal-clear floor signet.
"Which means he's twice as corrupt with those two combined…!" Rouge stamped her boot heel into the floor. "Rrgh…! His strength should be insanely out of proportion now! Grah, we've gotta get to the bottom of this! We've gotta help Yuna, and…bring Shadow, Sonic, and Silver back…" Her eyes were becoming teary, as well. "But how?"
"I believe this Temple will give us an answer to that."
Rouge and Amy threw their sights at the Pyromantic Guardian climbing further up the staircase. They blinked a little at her, then at each other. As they heard Blaze suggesting for the three of them to meet back in the Temple foyer, Amy and Rouge nodded to each other. Amy faced the green gossamers bowing around the doors fancily, with Rouge doing the same for the sheer scarlet tapestries before her.
The doors were easy to push, and all three girls pushed their respective gates open at the same time. Long, narrow hallways extended beyond, but too much was at stake for them to turn back now.
YUNA'S LOCATION…
"There was always sadness in that voice…the voice I used to hear during my childhood."
Yuna was recounting some of her past. She supposed that, just maybe, it could help her unravel the tightly bound mysteries behind this tragedy. Spira in itself seemed like a mystery. And the possibility that her move to Besaid Island during her younger years, Seymour's miraculous yet bittersweet reappearance, and even the Solaris Project itself added to a part of it: Bevelle.
If Bevelle was such a sanctimonious capital, why were there so many incidents involving misguidance, desecration, and denial? Her father was a just ruler, a righteous High Summoner. His fellow triumvirs, Grand Maester Yo Mika and a previous Praetor, were also levelheaded and honest men. But there were some things that didn't add up to her.
And it involved the events between the Bevelle Underground's destruction, her reawakening, and the consequent Sending of her own father.
"I remember an ache in my stomach when I woke up, and a sad voice."
She remembered Lulu being with her when two other female attendants were dressing her for a Sending ritual. She had asked who she was sending, but both attendants were vague in response.
One had even told her, "Just be sure to make your father proud, My Lady."
"I had already assumed Father's position even then," Yuna spoke in retrospect about the memory. She was still smoothing her hand against the unresponsive blue coat. "And the voice in my stomach…it never spoke words, but I could always tell that it was just as sad as I was."
"Why are you sad?" Little Yuna had asked the voice in her young belly.
Her pirouettes were perfect, and her rhythm flawless.
"Is it because you miss somebody?"
The Sovereignty heirloom bobbed, twirled in sync with Little Yuna's dancing.
"Did you lose somebody you loved, too?"
The tears in her eyes could not fall. Even as a tiny-footed nine-year-old, she knew the reason.
"…Really? Then, I guess…we're a lot alike, Lord Fervor."
MOONFLOW - EN ROUTE TO GUADOSALAM (?)…
It looked to Knuckles that he, Tails, and Cream and Cheese had awakened on a small dock. Although, when Knuckles and Tails came to their senses, they saw Cream and Cheese reaching into the water.
Tails' fluffy twin appendages fluffed even more. "Agh! Cream, Cheese, get away from there!" he cried, dashing over to them.
"It's okay, Tails. See?" Cream was smiling sweetly, Cheese cooed next to her. As the Chao flew off to the side, Cream showed Tails a beautiful blue flower she'd picked from the water's edge. "Look! These flowers are everywhere!" She pointed out at the other shore.
Tails gawked at the beauty of those very same flowers springing open along both shorelines. The flowers seemed to be sprouting from under the water. They were also providing a safe haven for the many pyreflies nesting there. "Whoa…!" he awed. "There're so many…!"
"…I remember being in the middle of a meadowy place filled with flowers, and in the distance I could see some kind of sparkling light lining a huge river…It seemed to be the middle of the night then…?"
Tails sighed. He remembered Sonic explaining where he'd landed after Chaos Control brought them all to Spira. 'The Moonflow...this is the place, for sure,' he surmised. He examined the flower Cream had given him. Its azure petals was unusually bright, much like the Illumine's tainted lotuses. He furrowed his brows a little. 'The vividness in these flowers seem superimposed someway…?'
Knuckles watched over Cheese as he soared up and down the shoreline with his new pyrefly playmates. They danced with him, his cute cooing setting the echidna's heart at slight ease.
"The sky still looks scary, though…"
Tails looked to Cream's clinging to his arm and pointing up. He saw what she was talking about, and dipped his brows lower.
The sky hung over the shadowy tree canopies with a dismal sheen of inky darkness. Constellations, entire star systems, everything was devoid of concreteness. Except for that green eye.
At a place the sun would take in the morning, the green eye stared directly at them and followed every movement Tails, Cream and Cheese, and Knuckles made. Spooked by its all-seeing prowess, the fox boy pulled Cream closer to him.
The white pupil glowed at the three, eerie and motionless. Omnipresent, yet devoid of interest or empathy. The silent sentry of the Aeonic Sun God, Solaris.
In the distance behind them were somewhat connected patches of earth. There was grass, some mossy rocks, and even handfuls of wildflowers were left. There was more evidence of a forest, as well.
As Knuckles could recognize. He squinted his eyes.
"Hey, that's the entrance to Guadosalam…!"
Tails and Cream looked to see what he was pointing at. There, a bit above their line of view was a stained glass window. Its sheer size and multitude of colors made Cream's eyes sparkle with intrigue, while Knuckles, Tails, and Cheese looked it over. A staircase curved around that bit of foundation; the rest seemed to waft in and out of visibility. Thick tree roots thatched over the entrance, the only one that they could see.
Cheese cooed, wondering if they should go investigate. "Chao, chao chao…?"
Tails gulped a little.
"Maybe it'll show us some clues about where everyone else is."
Cream blinked up at Knuckles. "Yeah," she heard Tails attest. "And maybe some that'll help us figure out all this." Her eyes carried a sad glaze. As she looked away, she heard Tails add, "And even a way…to bring Sonic, Shadow, and Silver back."
"C'mon, let's get going."
The red echidna led the way, mindful of the fox boy and rabbit girl at his heels. Cheese was reluctant to leave his new pyrefly friends behind; he let out a forlorn cry before following Cream again.
Just as they disappeared from sight, the blue flowers withered before budding again.
YUNA'S LOCATION…
The woman on the gondola abruptly disappeared from Yuna's sight. The roar of Iblis—now recognized as the Carnal Fervor—was heard a second time by Yuna. Her gown was still a duplicate of the missing woman's. She also noticed three magic circles shattering, a white-cyan flash zoom past her, and yet another bloodcurdling roar. She found herself able to maneuver through the vision. In the distance, from where the zooming flash was heading, she found the Bevelle Temple more or less intact. She nodded to it, acknowledging that something in this bleak scene could still be recognized.
But then, another event took its turn: Yuna had lowered to a rooftop, a bit a ways from the mutated Carnal Fervor. And lo and behold, she gaped at the sight of the Mystic Illumine standing before her. She covered her mouth, thinking he had heard her.
In actuality, he did. But his attention was too fixed on the Fervor to acknowledge her. His Acumen faced her. Its tattered hems looked like begging hands, they could only reach out so far.
"Forever rampaging, never to know that his existence is an end in itself. His unconscious drive to destroy all that stands, lives, breathes…it knowest no bounds. And there is no solace I can give to him."
The Illumine's soliloquy tapped at Yuna's heartstrings. 'There is no solace…you can give to him?'
"He is beyond the means of control and reconciliation, now. He'st become a monstrosity: a hopeless tyrant who knows nothing other than all that girdles him. He lives to destroy, and he destroys because it is the only way he knows he is alive."
Yuna moved her heterochromous gaze up toward the massive, hellish beast. She thought her ears were going to bleed from another of his hideous shrieks. Scorching heat swallowed her. It was singeing her clothes.
She struggled to refocus on him, but listened to more of what he had to say.
As his Acumen billowed in the heat blast, he continued: "He is upset because he cannot find me. He's far too detached from this realm to even bother any longer. His feelings of loss and despair have transmuted into an unbridled, intense rage." He was somehow unbothered by the heat. "It has Blinded him from me, this rage I have never seen…though fear most of all."
Yuna could only imagine what his face should look like, now.
"I wish not to blame anyone—Yu Yevon, Bevelle, Spira, not a soul. Our souls apart have always been without foundation, so we must always coexist within each other…just as Yu Yevon promised us."
The High Summoner gasped.
"I'm sure he knows that, lest he's forgotten…"
Compassionate tears pooled on the brims of the High Summoner's eyes. They pearled in new tints, a milky magma with globules of fiery ginger. Soft hiccups leapt from her throat. She bowed her head in shame.
'Oh, Illumine…'
"I pray that he'st not forgotten me now…" His head lowered slightly. "For I am the only love, and light, in his life."