Darkest Before Dawn
Chapter 55
Tails' POV
When one narrows it down, there are two objectives to life:
The first is to tend to the welfare of others. It could be from simply saying hello to them as you pass by to holding them tight and whispering into their ear that you love them… The world revolves around what each person does for one another. Many wars were caused by insults; many peace treaties achieved through hospitality. I once remember hearing a story that told of a man, who was suicidal, walking the streets of his hometown in search of someone who would smile at him. This one smile would keep him alive. If everyone knew that a simple smile could save a man's life, the world would be a better place, would it not? Or, most would ignore this message, like so many others, and the community would stay the same or become even worse. Maybe one smile cannot save everyone…
The second purpose, though, I find to be much more difficult. It is to tend to your own welfare. One reflects on the actions he or she does to realise who you are, yet one can never realise what they really want until it is far too late to attain it. We find ourselves hiding behind masks – masks that conceal our true identity from the world and make us who we want to be. These masks drag us into situations we never want to be in and make us decide on the undesirable outcome. If I met someone who was truly himself, he would become my hero in an instant.
There was once a writer that said a mirror always tells the truth; that a mirror does not only reflect your image, but also your very soul. Maybe this was the only true way to see one's self.
I sat myself up on the bed and stared into the mirror for the fifth time since I had arrived in my room. It was an old mirror – one of the oval ones used by royalty when they were getting ready for a ball. It was placed straight in front of me in an awkward position. It was as though someone had set it there for this exact purpose. I thought that, in this mirror, I could find myself. Because, in all honesty, I had no idea who I was…
I did not know I should gaze upon myself with utter disgust or to be pleased with what was presented before me. To me, I simply looked like a weary, dying kitsune that desperately could use some food, but I felt as though I should be seeing something more. Maybe that is what I am. A weary, hungry, dying kitsune… who was staring in a mirror trying to find his soul just because a writer told him to. No, there had to be something else in there… something I do not know about myself.
I cocked my head a tad to the right to see if this would perhaps change my appearance. No, now I just looked like I had a crooked head.
I had been so deep in thought that I had not noticed that Amy had placed herself at my side. She left me undisturbed for only a few seconds because curiosity filled her thoughts. "What are you looking at?"
I shrugged. And I was not lying – I really did not have a clue. "Nothing," I finally answered her. "I think my mind just drifted off, that's all…"
She grasped onto my hand and squeezed it. Her other hand placed itself on my arm as she put her head on my shoulder. I did not have to look over to see what she was doing. It was all displayed in the mirror. We sat there for several minutes staring at our reflections. I took my mind off of myself (it was getting too frustrating) and focused upon her instead. I had expected a small smile to be on her face, as always, but found none. I knew what she was musing about. In less than six hours, we would be heading off to Keita's lair, where our deaths would deliberately occur. It was a scary thought. I had not suspected to die at the young age of thirteen – and neither did she. We had so much ahead of us, or, we did, before Keita invaded. Now, we only had our friends, our weapons, our hope, and each other. And, though I was afraid of the certain death that was about to come, I believed these things were enough.
"You look older," Amy remarked while taking her eyes off of the mirror and looking up at me. I returned the gaze and was happy to find that her green eyes were still sparkling. She observed me in an attempt to figure out what quality had changed in me. A smile developed, instantly brightening her features. "I think it's your eyes."
I looked back into the mirror to see my eyes for myself. She was right. What once had been a sky blue now was the colour of the dark ocean. How could I have not noticed this before? I guess one is more vigilant of the other instead of one's self… I glanced back down at her and said, "You look older too, you know."
"Me?" She asked with a giggle. She herself looked at the mirror and continued while twirling her hair, "Well, my hair has gotten longer… but that's because I have not been able to cut it in so long."
"I like it that length. I always thought your old cut was a bit childish."
She withdrew her hand from her hair and placed it on my hand, which he was already holding. "Excuse me? Short cuts usually had 'adult' plastered all over them."
I shook my head. "Not yours. It added on to your annoying-ness back then… You were always chasing Sonic when obviously he did not like you in that way. You never gave up, though, which I guess showed determination."
"It was stupid determination," she admitted to my surprise. "But, Miles," she argued while poking my nose, "you were not that much better. Sure you are a bit of a genius, but everything you did had something to do with Sonic. Sonic this, Sonic that. I, at least, got around."
"Whoa," I said in bewilderment. "What do you mean by 'got around'?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "I meant I did other productive things besides obsess about Sonic." When she saw my look of disbelieve, she sighed. "Alright, fine. He was on my mind most of the time." She did not want me to rub in the fact that I had caught her in a corner, so she looked back to the mirror. To definitely change the subject, she recited, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who is the greatest of the all?" She laughed when she saw my reaction.
She was about to make a remark, but I added, "If it is not me, then tell me my deepest flaw."
"That isn't in the movie," she disputed lightly.
"No," I replied, "but it is from the book(1)." I felt accomplished when the expression of surprise ran across her face. "What? I read books. All sorts of books. What do you think I did in my spare time?"
Amy thought over this for a moment and finally shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we don't know each other as much as we thought we did, do we?" There was a moment of silence. "Actually, now thinking about it, the only long conversations we would ever have was if it involved food and money(2)."
"Do not even bring that up," I told her with a chuckle. "At least I do not fantasize about a certain blue hedgehog who, quite frankly, I would not find attractive whatsoever if I was a girl."
She wanted to rebound off of this and come back with a better insult, but she tried a different tactic. "You don't have to worry about that anymore," she informed me as she rapped her arm around my waist and put her head on my chest, "because I do not like a certain blue hedgehog like that anymore. Too fast for me, you see…"
"Wow," I said in amazement (I truly was astonished, for I thought that I would never see the day she would say this), "I cannot believe you just ---."
The pink hedgehog cut me off with a kiss. It startled me greatly, but I soon found myself comfortable with it. It was not long, nor was it very planned out, but it was a kiss, nevertheless. We pulled away laughing. "That definitely did not work as planned," Amy told me though giggles took away most of her voice.
"That's alright," I replied, "let's just try it again, hm?"
Soran's POV
"Ah," I said aloud as I took in the smell that now wrapped itself around the large kitchen, "I just love the smell of pie!" I took a look at the sloppy, round pastry that I was awkwardly holding with one bandaged hand. I remember vaguely that when I had a bad day at work, my wife would always make my daughter and me a pie. The one I had made here could not be nearly as good. I was missing ingredients (I hope they were not important) and it seemed like more of a glob than anything. What hers tasted like, though, I could not remember. It was far too long ago…
What had even reminded me of the pie was the fact that I had tried to call my wife earlier. I did not get very far, though, especially since the phone lines were down. I probably could not have done it anyway… she has probably found a new love and has forgotten about me. And I am happy if she has. That means Melody did not have to live without a father figure for that long. This all, of course, if they were even alive. I still feel stupid for not going back to Mercia when I first got out of Hell, but duty called. I had to tell someone with power about the projects down there. And now, I am too wrapped up in this to depart on a search for them. I am one of the number one targets of Keita.
I wish, though, that I had gotten a chance to talk to Melody. She should be six now, I believe. I have almost forgotten the sound of her voice, which is something a father should never lose. Her image is even blurred. All I can remember was that she had her mother's eyes, sparkling with happiness. If I cannot remember her completely, then I guess I do not deserve to speak to her again.
In my dreams at night, if I was lucky enough to escape a nightmare, I would see her standing so far away from me. She would always be laughing, calling my name, telling me to come and play with her. And, no matter how close I got, I never got close enough. She would always disappear before I could grab her hand or lift her up into the air and spin her around. I always felt so heartbroken afterwards though I knew it was a dream, only a dream, always a dream. Why can't the dream destroy reality?
I shook the thought out of my mind. There was no use thinking of it.
The pie! It's going to get cold. I rushed out of the kitchen and looked both ways down the path. The castle was so big and Kage was so small. How could I find him? I thought of finding one of the skeleton warriors (the ones that were in the castle were usually there because of Kage), but they were all heading to the battlefield as we speak. I do not know if we will even see the Dragon himself again.
I had to have been wandering the halls for fifteen minutes when I found him. He was outside on one of the many balconies slouched over the railing. For a moment I could have sworn he was going to flip right over, but his feet were caught in the railing's openings to prevent just that. I opened the door and stepped quietly outside. I was instantly chilled and it felt as though the darkness settled itself upon me. It was more like a haze than anything.
"Kage," I called, "I brought pie!"
He glanced over his shoulder and, though I could not make out his face as first, I saw that he was staring at me with confusing and slight annoyance. "Pie?" he asked. "Did you seriously say pie? Why did you make a pie?"
I looked down at the pastry and realised that I had no idea why I made the pie. Was it in desperate reminder of my wife or was it to keep my mind off of what was going to begin in less than six hours? Probably both. I just smiled though and happily answered, "Why not?" I paused for a moment, and when his features did not lighten up, I defended myself. "Oh, do not make me look like the mad one. Everyone likes pie!"
He slightly smiled. I took this as a sign that I was allowed to bring the pie out for him to try. I walked over by his side and set the tray on the railing, but I had underestimated its width. It flipped over the side and fell into the darkness. "Oh no, my pie!" I cried. I did try to blast it back up with my cane, but that only moved its falling destination further away from the balcony. All of my hard work just fell off of a castle. To tell the truth, that sounded like my life in a nutshell.
Kage reached off of the balcony and with a muttered word in Latin, the tray came flying back up and into his grasp. We looked inside only to find that the pie had fallen out. "I'm sorry," he told me. "But I am afraid the darkness is the one enjoying your pie."
"Shucks," I muttered. But I was not disheartened. It was not made correctly anyway and no one would have eaten it because of it. Well, I would have at least tried it, but probably have done nothing more after that. The cold was getting to me more than anything. The bitterness of the night reminded me of the chilly nights in the Cell. "Is it only me," I asked to bring up conversation, "or is it below zero?"
He nodded. "Probably." He did not seem to mind the cold. His cloak was heavy, though, so perhaps he was warm.
"I wish Keita had not picked the time he had," I said absentmindedly. Kage gave me a curious look. "What? You don't know?" When he did not answer, I explained to him, "The hour before dawn, the time that Keita is sending his escort, is the darkest hour… Always has been, and always… well, not will be anymore, huh?"
He chuckled at the irony of it. "No." He thought it over and said, "Keita always has been a symbolic person. Perhaps the hour is to inform us that only darkness is ahead, and the dawn represents the coming of the dreamworld."
I had not thought of it that way. I had thought he had picked that hour just to send us into completely darkness. I never did like darkness, even if it did not hold me in a small room. It always sent shivers down my spine. Maybe he sends us at that time to mess with our minds. After all, being in nothingness for so long can drive one slightly mad…
A moment of silence passed but was broken when he asked me, "Soran, are you afraid of death?"
At first I had thought it was an odd question (and had been quite randomly placed into conversation – Kage was always straightforward, but geez), but realised why he was asking it to me just before I answered incorrectly. I told him honestly, "No. I used to be though. A lot." I paused for a slight moment to think of what to say. "Kage, you must see that, death is more universal than life; everyone dies while not everyone lives."
We stood in silence for a long time. He seemed to be reflecting back on his life to see if there was anything that he had missed. What he probably does not realise though is he is going to miss out on so much that could have happened in the upcoming years. Jobs, parties, marriage, family… I asked him. "Is there something you haven't done that you would like to?" I did not want to make any promises, but I still found myself saying, "If there is, we can do it. We have six hours, but we'll find a way for you to accomplish it."
He shook his head. "I don't think we can, Soran."
"Don't be so pessimistic, Kage," I replied with a forced laugh. "I'm sure we can sneak off for a while and do one last thing. Ero will freak, but I will gladly take the blame." When he did not produce an answer, I attempted to guess what he was thinking. "Is it baptism? If it is, I know how the ritual goes. Sure I'm not religious, but ---."
"I've already been baptized," he told me quietly. "You would consider it a stupid, implausible wish, you see." He looked down into the darkness to avoid eye contact. I did not see why he chose there particularly though – there was nothing to see but black.
"Tell me," I dared him suddenly. "I solemnly swear I will not even let out the slightest laugh at it."
He looked up at me with sad eyes. "Keita laughed."
"Well," I said to him sternly, "I'm not Keita, am I?"
Kage stared back down into nothingness, and then up into it. I knew he would tell me, but I believe he was just trying to find the right words. I did not disturb him. I only waited for his response. What he said, though, had thrown me completely off guard. Though he was a smart fellow, I did not suspect that he could conjure up such a touching, yet saddening wish. It was simple, but at the same time, meant everything to me. He did not face me when he said it. "I wish that… I could save you all… and have each and every one of you forget about me so you could go on with your normal lives…"
I gave out a haggard sigh and patted him on the back. "I'm sorry," I whispered to him, "but I am afraid I cannot help you with that."
He simply looked up at me, but this time his eyes did not hold sadness, but instead they held nothing, just like the darkness before us. "I know," he replied in monotone. "Nobody can."
Tails' POV
The hours before our departure went by at a tediously slow pace. Though we were uneager to leave, we passed the time by in any sort of way that we could. We found every CD in the castle (even if the music was an undesirable genre) and listened to them nonstop. We sat in a circle of discarded blankets, playing cards, and half-empty food bags talking about things that had to do with nothing close to our fate. Our conversations ranged from favourite book, to favourite memory, to life. The latter subject was one that I would most definitely miss.
There was one person with problems bigger than I, however. Though he smiled, though he laughed, we could see the life fading from Kage's eyes. He was the one who knew how each event would be played, how much pain we would feel as life slipped from our grasp, how mangled we would look when Keita was done with us. It was obvious that, no matter how much we tried to distract him, these facts were the only thoughts running through his mind. He tried to pay attention to us, and we tried to include him in every sentence said, but we were all unsuccessful. Soran had said something to Ero about the kitsune's wish that would remain forever unanswered, but I never got the chance to hear what it was. Maybe his knowledge of the future and this wish were intermingled and both were on his mind.
Everyone else, though, hid their pain. If I had not known them for the time I had, I would believe this display of acting was outstanding and never would have second guessed their emotions, but their joyful moods were for show. Even Ero, who was a brilliant actor, could not completely pull off the look of happiness. He was constantly glancing at his gold pocket watch to keep a hold on the time. Every time Amy saw him checking it, she would take a peek too. Everyone was anxious, everyone was scared. The Chao, however, seemed eager. He probably did not understand the extent of what was happening, though.
A low, droning sigh from Ero interrupted our conversation. He finally brought his watch into the view of everyone and informed us of the time. "Keita's escort should be here in around fifteen minutes… we better be gettin' outside."
Reality hit everyone at that moment. We sat for a moment staring into nothing. I felt naïve and stupid when I realised that I, who had been dreading this time since Shadow had told us of it, had never actually thought it would come. I had led myself to believe that the pointless discussions, the crumbles of potato chips, and the songs would last us forever. Kage was the first to stand up. The rest of us followed suit and prepared our supplies and threw on our cloaks in silence.
My cloak felt lopsided – it was probably because, while one pocket held my gun, the other held the ammo that weighed so much more. It felt so weird to be carrying a weapon into battle. Usually I had always gone with advance technology at my side. Sure the bullets released water at impacted, but a gun was so much simpler. Why had we not have thought of it before?
I had to search underneath the bunched up blankets and throws to find the skinny, long sword that the King had given to me earlier. He had told me it had been used back in the medieval days, when the skill of the warrior, not how advanced the technology, determined the outcome of a battle. Though the gun was much easier (and less messy) to use, the sword would allow me to save as many bullets as I could for Keita. Only so many bullets had been made because of the lack of time.
We were hesitant to leave the room. With the opening of that door and with the entrance into that hallway, we knew we were leaving our lives behind. The arguments, the vices, and the sins that we committed could never be forgiven. The hope, the virtues, and the innocence we had might as well be thrown out the door. But with heads held high, determination filling the air, we took a step out of the room and the first step towards our demise.
It was so quiet as we walked down the long hallways. I was used to soldiers crowding them, but now they were bare. I was used to the sound of portable machinery, but now the only noise was our footsteps and our cloaks that dragged across the floor. I grabbed Amy's hand. She looked up at me, but did not smile. She took her eyes off of me and glanced around. "Where's Nicole?" She suddenly asked. Her voice did hint concern, but I think that she just wanted to start up a conversation.
"She's not coming," Kage replied casually. "She left for Mori Mura right after that hedgehog left – didn't you see?"
I had even known that. She left to go home and support the dying town through the War. It was a futile attempt, and Kage told me she knew that, but she still went. Her magic would have been helpful to our efforts, but it was her decision what she wanted to do with her life. She had been invited to Keita's, and I am sure he will 'miss' her presence with us, yet he has not said anything (not, actually, since the day I figured out his true identity), so he must have not too much of a problem with it. I was thinking too much into this, but perhaps he had been the one to dismiss her.
"Right," she replied with an embarrassed chuckle. I think she had expected Kage to make fun of her or something because when it grew silent again, she looked slightly disappointed.
We travelled down several flights of stairs. It took us awhile because of Soran's leg. Though he kept telling us to hurry along, we did not want to leave him. While we helped him down, I realised that it had been awhile since I had been down on the base floor. The closest I have been to it was in the throne room, which was on the second. And, it had been over a week since I have been actually outside. This was a scary thought. I had only seen the city from the high views of the balconies, but now I would have to walk through them. I did not know what to expect. The city could look like it had before or could be so much different that I could no longer recognize it.
"You guys… are the worst assassination group I have ever seen," a voice told us just as we made it to the first floor. Faron, who looked much older than before, stood before us with a cigarette in his hand and, surprisingly, in normal clothing. Either he was not even close to leaving yet (which was improbable – the War was going to start in a mere hour), or he was going just like that. He was tired, much like we were, but the bags under his eyes showed it greatly. Maybe that's what made him seem so old.
Kage growled, but the soft smile that appeared on his face told that he was not particularly angry. "Have you even seen an assassination group before?"
He shook his head. "Nope. But you guys are the worst of 'em. I mean, it consists of three idiots, a crippled man, a Chao, a girl – how could it get any worse?"
"If you were in it," Kage replied smartly. "But, oh, wait, you have an army to command, don't cha?" When the General stretched out his hand, the black kitsune shook it firmly. "Who was the dumb-ass who decided to give you that job?"
Faron smirked and let go of Kage's hand. "That dumb-ass would happen to be a very acknowledged King." He looked beyond him to find the rest of us patiently waiting for their sarcastic bickering session to be done with. He took a moment to look us over, but his smile dropped off his face as he asked, "Are you guys ready to get this done with?" Kage glanced over his shoulder to see our reply.
"Yeah," I finally answered for all of us. "I think a little revenge is at hand, hm?" I glanced at the others to see if I had replied correctly or not. It was the first time that morning that I saw their eyes shine with some form of anticipation. Yes, I guess Keita was getting on everyone's nerves enough that, despite the end of the world, we were still going to his lair to bring the fight, no matter how futile, to him.
We spent the next few minutes shaking hands, talking, and, at least, trying to laugh some of the fear off. We made jokes, we said stupid things, but with the end of the world only an hour or so away, true laugher just was not on the menu.
We were interrupted, though, by a soldier who opened up the creaky main doors of Hatsu's castle. "Sir," he reported quite wearily to Faron, not bothering to even salute him or honour him in any way except for the title, "a messenger from Shikyo(3) has come… He says he awaits Lord Kage and his companions."
"Great, you're a lord now," Faron said to Kage with a roll of his eyes. He looked back over to the soldier and told him, "Tell him we will be out in a moment."
The soldier simply nodded and left us at our lonesome.
The General turned to us and with all seriousness said, "Do try. Please. This is a stupid thing to say, but I would like it if my prays would be answered this morning."
Though nobody said it, I knew that all of us wished the same. We all knew that the dreamworld was going to succeed and that every impure individual on the planet was going to be brutally murdered, but trying to stop this fate was something that did not need to be asked of us. We were going to try to bring Keita down no matter what. We wanted to show him that we were more than he thought we were, that hope still remind in this worn down world, and that it was worth fighting for. But most of all, we wanted each of our faces to come up in his mind every day he sat in his prefect dreamworld. We wanted our names not to be forgotten.
With a silent agreement, we left the castle through the doors and stepped out into the world. It was just as dark as it was up upon the balconies and through the useless windows. Lanterns were clamped together in various places to keep the pathway from the castle out into the city clear of the grim bleakness of the night. Everything seemed to be losing its colour. The lights, instead of giving off a yellowish glow, had a tint of grey that spread onto the matter that was in its radius. There was no more foliage, only dirt, and all that remained of the trees were their lifeless bark. The soldiers that stood under the lighting were tired, afraid, and dull. Because of the lights, they gave off barely any colour – only grey. It felt as though I had just entered a black-and-white movie. I took a step down towards the bottom of the stairs, but quickly pulled my foot up when some type of ooze rapped itself around my ankle.
My attention was grabbed when a cloaked figure stepped into the light. The soldiers moved back with the fear that the person would attack them. I had suspected it to be Shadow, but remember him saying that he was commanding the armies for Keita. He approached the stairs with a carefree attitude. He bowed, and, though on first sight it would seem that he was giving us respect, he was really only handing it out to Kage and mocking the rest of us. He stood tall as he removed his hood to reveal his face and his cocky smile.
Our transport was none other than the famous Sonic the Hedgehog.
1) I actually have no idea whether this is in the book or not. Actually, I do not even know if there is a book. So, please, do not argue over such a trivial thing because you are probably right
2) If you remember, Amy was mad at Tails at the beginning because he kept asking her for lunch money.
3) I don't know if this was said, but only Tails and co., Hatsu's army advisors, and the King know that Shikyo is actually Keita. Telling the soldiers and the world this would only confuse (and disgust) them, and should be kept as classified information to reserve the spiritualists' honour (though it's already tarnished)
Drag on chapter, I know, sorry. It was kind of angsty, I know, but with the end of the world only being a few hours away, I would be pretty much in the dumps too.
Now, the other day, I got an email from somebody about the chapter where the Princess's true intentions were figured out. They were wondering how Kage could tell it was lemur blood, not just regular blood. I had thought I explained this before, but if not, here is the reason: As you know, lemurs are endangered. Some of the kinds of lemurs are even extinct. Most people believe this is because of predators, but one race of lemurs actually died out because of its blood. Lemurs look like small, cute monkeys, right? Really, most of them come from reptiles (or, something that was cold-blooded). One evolution of the lemur could have happened before our very eyes if we would have been there for it. The problem with this small population, though, was that, despite being warm-blood, they still had all the equipment and thin blood for a cold-blooded animal. This obviously did not work out. But because of this, the blood has a distinct taste… according to the people that have… well, uh, tasted it before (not me).
I hope that helped and sorry if there was any confusion on that.
Oh, yes, I actually did write something fluffy in here. I am dearly sorry that you even had to lay your eyes upon that. (Scared of it myself)
Next chapter shall be out soon,
Kelsey
P.S. Before this chapter, my friend and I had an hour conversation about pie, and during this chapter, I baked two pumpkin pies. I love pie.
"It's always darkest before dawn. So if you are going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it."
