Chapter 37: Revitalised Hope

She couldn't believe her eyes when she turned around. Neither could Stamatis. He had never seen the figure that presented herself before them, but Blaze had. It was someone who she was related to. A descendant. With a ghostly figure garbed in long flowing robes and flaring red jewels adorned on her chest and neck, it was none other that the god of fire herself, Sol.

"Blaze...you can't give up..." she said, her voice a powerful, yet echoing sound. Blaze was completely stunned at what she was seeing. Sol floated in front of them, calmly and serenely, as if there was nothing wrong. Stamatis noticed how much Blaze and Sol looked like each other, except Sol was a lot larger in size as a spirit.

"...S-Sol..." Blaze stuttered. "What...why are you...here?"

She watched as Sol closed her eyes and brought her hands to her chest, holding them together softly.

"The world has fallen under perilous danger" she said. "If this castle cannot be stopped, then the world may very well be buried under ice. Many will die" she explained.

"So why didn't you help us before?" Stamatis shouted suddenly, still very frustrated. "Had you come in sooner, Wolfgang wouldn't have died! We could have taken down the castle a long time ago!"

Blaze looked at Stamatis in horror.

"Don't shout at her!" Blaze shouted suddenly.

"It's okay, Blaze..." Sol interrupted. "I can understand his anger. I did not anticipate that your enemies would progress this far"

"But...what are we going to do?" Blaze yelled amidst the rising noise of the charging cannon, which grew brighter every second. "The cannon's about to fire; we're all going to be killed!"

Blaze then watched as Sol let go of her hands and placed them close together, revealing a small gap in between her hands.

"I cannot step in and save the world myself...I am but a spirit" she said. "But I can do this..."

Suddenly, a bright red light shot out of the gap in between Sol's hands. Both Blaze and Stamatis squinted and shielded their eyes from the light. Blaze peeked out from her arm and received yet another shock as what she saw.

Within Sol's hands were seven jewels, each a different colour. Every one shone with vigour and released a near searing, yet powerful, invigorating heat. Just looking at them filled Blaze with hope. She could feel her body beckoning for the power that lay in Sol's hands. It was the Sol Emeralds.

"Blaze...I give you the Sol Emeralds" Sol announced. "Use them and stop this world from being plunged under ice..."

"But how?" Stamatis asked. "I thought...only the descendant of a god could use an Elemental Tome's power? And how did they just appear?" he asked, even more confused about the situation.

"Blaze is my descendant" Sol said, looking over towards Stamatis. "And wherever I may go, even in spirit, the Sol Emeralds will follow..."

Blaze then watched as Sol's gaze turned back to her.

"I entrust these to you" she said. "Use them wisely, and stop the tyranny from destroying this world"

The Sol Emeralds then slowly floated away from Sol's hands and towards Blaze, who watched them as they approached. As they moved, Sol gave Blaze a heart warming smile before her spirit vanished into thin air.

The Sol Emeralds started to circle Blaze. She suddenly felt an exhilarating surge of power and heat streaming through her body and her blood. She felt it boil; the feeling was immense. All the negativity in her mind was vanquished by the extreme heat and she felt the flames bursting out of her body, unable to be contained. She started to scream, exerting all of her old strength out, the Sol Emeralds spinning faster and faster.

Suddenly, a great burst of searing fire shot out of Blaze as the Sol Emeralds slowed down. Blaze's fur had become a lighter pink and her body was spouting flames. Amidst the freezing cold eminence of the ice cannon above them, the entire room was warm. Stamatis looked on in shock.

"Blaze...look at yourself...you've changed!" he said. Blaze looked at Stamatis, a serious face imprinted on her.

"It's time to finish this" she said. "I must stop Marcelino..."

"Then let me come up with you" Stamatis asked. "You may have extreme power now, but two heads are better than one"

Blaze waited for a minute, thinking about Stamatis's offer, before nodding in agreement.

"Hold onto me" she asked. Stamatis then walked up to Blaze and held onto her arm as she started to charge energy in her body. Stamatis could feel the exhilarating heat, but he wasn't burned. It was strange how Blaze was able to decide who was hurt by her flames, and who would be resistant.

The cannon was almost ready to fire. A deathly blue beam had converged on the front, and the noise was so high pitched, everybody's ears was about to shatter from the noise. Blaze charged up as much energy as she possibly could, trying to time it right. Then, as she saw the blue sphere suck itself into the cannon nozzle, about to unleash, Blaze unleashed her own energy and shot right up with Stamatis towards the floating castle. Stamatis closed his eyes tightly and hoped that he would survive giant energy blast.