The next morning at the werewolf camp, things weren't looking too good for Caleb. Caleb had yet to wake up and to make matters worse; his appearance in health was starting to decline. Even his grandmother Mary stayed with her sick grandson, working on herbal remedies passed down through the clan to aid his sickness. The older red female dingo worked on grinding up some herbal concoction in a rock basin.

Feeling anxious about the suffering former leader, Sonic could no longer sit idly by. Stroking the top of Caleb's head, Sally watched as her husband got up from the kitchen table and headed into their bedroom. He walked back out, carrying his shoes in hand. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Going out to find Infinite. I'm going to find out just what the hell he did to Caleb and find out how I can heal him."

"That seems rather impulsive," Mary warned.

Sally glanced over at the sickly dingo, who was now running a dangerously high fever. Caleb was panting in his sleep and sweating like crazy. It looked like he was facing some gnarly nightmares. She replaced the damp cloth off his forehead with a new one. "She's right. You think he's just going to give you answers that easily?"

He sat down at the kitchen table and put on his red and white tennis shoes. "I don't know babe, but at this point, there's no other option but trying."

Mary sat down in one of the lazy boy chairs, continuing her medicine making. "This could be a death wish for you…" she warned.

Sally had to agree with the elder. He could easily get killed out there by hid blind rage. "I don't like this Sonic, but I can tell by your determination I'm not going to be able to say anything to stop you." She watched as he stood up and headed for the front door. "Come back alive," she ordered.

"I'll make that a promise," he pledged. "Do whatever you can to keep him stable in my absence."

•~•

At that same time, back at Shadow's estate, the ebony hedgehog was dealing with his very own dilemma with his older brother. He walked into the kitchen where he spotted Mighty and Blaze still dabbling with the broken pendant on the kitchen table. He watched as Mighty meticulously moved the shards of the jewel into place like a puzzle. Shadow's brows furrowed by his lack of urgency and he stormed over in the armadillo's direction. "So, what's the hold-up? Why haven't we started the revival of my brother?"

Mighty stopped his fiddling with the jewel and calmly glanced up at the hybrid. "When the pendant shattered Silver's mind shattered, too. Your brother's soul most likely retreated to the innermost core of his consciousness," he specified.

Shadow raised a brow. "Right, so how do we find his soul?"

"I don't know. It could be anywhere in over a thousand years of memories, but if we try to fix the pendant before finding him and healing his mind. He'll be permanently fractured—like casting a fractured bone before it's been properly set," he elaborated in more fine detail.

He growled with impatience. "Spare me the medical analogies and fix him," Shadow spat demandingly.

"Shadow, please," Blaze politely interjected. "He's been helping me with this all morning."

"Fine." Shadow huffed. "What will the next step be?"

"Someone will need to go inside and find him. Once we're sure his mind is stable then I can fix the pendant," Mighty answered.

He wagged a finger in the armadillo's face. "Very well, then how about you-"

"Shadow," Amy snapped, now standing in the kitchen doorway. Shadow looked in her direction from her sharp tone. "How about you and I go take a walk and clear your mind," she suggested strongly.

Hearing her stern tone, he backed off slowly. Shadow turned on his heel and left the room as instructed. Amy followed behind her husband, leaving just Mighty and Blaze alone. The purple feline turned to look at her friend. "Please tell me you can do this."

He looked her in the eyes and faltered slightly. "You know my feelings towards Silver. So, I'll do my best, only because you are my friend," he pledged.

•~•

That same morning in the farmers market located in Station Square, the now live, and thriving Infinite walked the streets of the farmers market. The black and white jackal wore a white scarf around his neck, a black leather jacket, grey fingerless gloves, back trousers, and large gray combat boots. Besides his scarf dangling around his neck, he had a silver chain around it holding a bright magenta triangular stone.

Showcasing a powerful and confident stride with his long white mane flowing in the wind, the jackal walked past a few flower and vegetable vendors. As he passed them, the vegetables and floral arrangements deceased within seconds of him giving them, and turned into a disgusting black coloring. The vendors behind the booths looked on in astonishment at their methods in disbelief. However, Infinite paid no attention to it and had much more pressing matters to get to. His one blue and other yellow eye scanned a building in front of him. This would be his first stop.

•~•

Back with Blaze and Mighty, the two were starting to make more progress on determining the locations of the shards placement. Mighty laid down the final pieces where he believed they belonged. Blaze watched him work in awe at his concentration. "Have you ever done this before?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Done what?" he questioned, matching a shard closer to another.

"Going inside someone's subconscious," she clarified.

He shook his head. "No."

She tilted her head in thought and bit her lower lip nervously. "One thing that concerns me is all the memories we'll have to sort through to find Silver. There are thousands upon thousands in there. How will we know which is the right one?"

"Easy," he replied quickly. "He'll recognize you," he stated not taking his eyes off his work. "Whatever memory he's clinging to, you'll pull him out of it."

Blaze blinked in surprise by his suggestion. "Wait for a second; I'm going in? I thought you'd need my assistance in sustaining the spell out here?" she gestured.

He shook his head. "This is going to be a tricky spell to sustain. It'll take two people to keep it up and running. That's why I'll need to channel another witch. They'll need to be powerful than even me and born from this family's bloodline," he hinted.

"…Faith?" Blaze said in realization. "No, we can't, she's too young for this."

Mighty stopped working on the pendant and looked up at his friend again. "Blaze, she's young, but she's strong. Stronger in fact than I was at her age," he persuaded. "Trust me, I would never do anything to hurt your niece, ever," he avowed.

"But what about Amy and Shadow? Do you think they'll allow her to assist us?" Blaze challenged.

"—As long as she's safe from harm and can bring my brother back, then yes," a male voice answered. The two looked over to the kitchen entrance where they noticed Shadow and Amy standing there having heard most of their conversation.

"So, I have your consent to use Faith's help?" Mighty asked making sure to get absolute confirmation.

The couple nodded in unison. "I know my daughter," Amy replied with a smile. "She'll love the fact that she'll be able to lend a hand. She's always been very generous and forthcoming for those in need."

"Great," Mighty smiled. "Like I was telling her, I won't put her in any danger whatsoever," he avowed.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day," Blaze inquired. "It looks like you two are about to set off," she noted based on their put together appearances.

"We are," Shadow confirmed. "Amy and I will go in search for the rest of those damn thorn, poisoned blades Infinite created. The sooner we can destroy them, the better," Shadow explained.

"Well, stay safe, you two. We don't need anyone else's life on the line," Blaze stated.

Amy smiled in appreciation. "We will. We'll be back later; you two stay safe as well," she waved as she and Shadow departed the room.

•~•

In one of the local witch bars in town, Infinite dragged a deceased witch's body and clumped it up in a pile full of many others he had just recently killed. He admired his achievement of killing twenty witches in only under a minute. He stood back looking at the blood seeping under the cluster of bodies.

"Whoa, now that is pretty messed up," a familiar voice said from behind him. "The first thing you do after being reborn is slaughter the witches who've been following your crazy ass," it tsked.

The jackal knew all too well, whom the voice belonged to. He smirked and turned his head slightly over his shoulder to glance at his commentator. "They live to serve. Therefore they can die doing the same," he replied. He turned around fully spotting Sonic casually leaning against the doorway frame staring hard in his direction. "Glory awaits those who sacrifice their blood to me." Infinite walked closer to Sonic but stopped several feet away. "I wonder…" he pondered aloud.

"Wonder what?"

He crossed his arms across his chest, looking him up and down. "How will you serve me?" he answered.

"Hey, you've been inside my head. You know that's never gonna happen," he replied.

Infinite chuckled lowly. "That's not all I know. You've come here in the hopes of saving that dingy dingo," he rebutted arrogantly with his all-knowing bravado. "How gallant."

"That's right," he confirmed.

"Hmm, he served me well, but my magic has overrun his body—an infection that will destroy him inevitably," he explained wickedly, showing no remorse. Sonic felt his brows furrow by his lack of empathy. Seeing this, an idea formed in the jackal's mind. "Although…I could save him if you pledge your loyalty to me."

Sonic tightened his fists. "I didn't come here to make a deal. I came to get answers on how to save him!" With that said, Sonic charged him with his vampire speed and dug his fangs into the side of Infinite's neck.

Infinite didn't even flinch and allowed Sonic to ravage him as he stood there smirking wickedly. It would be only a few more moments before it would kick in. Suddenly, Sonic reared his head back and let out a blood-curdling scream. "Gaaah!" The blue hedgehog stumbled backward with his mouth agape as a black, bloody, gloop looking substance dripped down his mouth and onto the wooden floor. He spits out the blood he had collected into his mouth and watched as it sizzled and hissed a massive hole into the floorboards almost in an acidic nature.

"Hurts, does it not?" Infinite cackled in delight by his suffering.

Sonic dug his fingers into the wooden floor, seizing the pain burning in his mouth and throat. "What'd you…" he gasped in shock.

"Turned my blood to acid," he chuckled innocently. "Now, as for your friend. There's nothing you can do for him to mend him back to health unless you give me your loyalty."

"I think your bluffing," he grunted.

"Don't you believe me?" Infinite stuck his hand out right in Sonic's direction. "Then it's time to sleep, hedgehog. I don't have time for your stalling."

•~•

In an apartment complex on the eighteenth floor, Shadow and Amy walked among the many bodies of Infinite's followers they had just slain in a bloody battle. Amy panted, trying to catch her breath as she leaned her back against the wall. Shadow came into the living room where Amy was resting, dragging a dead body. He tossed the deceased female white rabbit into the pile of other witch bodies they had taken out. "Well, that's the last one," he announced dusting off his bloodied hands.

Amy grimaced at the sight of body parts and blood littered throughout the living room. "I hate having to do this," she admitted remorsefully.

Shadow approached his sullen wife. "Hey, it's our lives at stake here. We have no other choice but to be on the defensive," he reminded. He reached down on the floor by one of the sofas and picked up the thorn encrusted poison knife and held it out for her to see. "This thing can take out me in a matter of seconds. This is what, our second slaughter today?"

Amy nodded gravely, thinking about the last place they had crashed and brought havoc on. So far, their body count was nearing fifty, and Amy couldn't feel proud of that thought. She rested her arms over her chest. "How many daggers do we have left?"

He tapped his chin in thought. "Well, Lupe left clues that she had only made four of them. We know one was used on my brother and was destroyed, one was going to be used on me for the sacrifice, but it got destroyed. We currently have one in our possession, so there's just one more at large," he answered.

Amy walked into the kitchen and ran the sink, washing off the blood covering her arms. She watched as it washed away down the drain. If only her sins could wash away so easily. "Alright then, let's finish this."

•~•

Back at the estate, Blaze prepared Faith for the spell in their living room. "Now, you don't have to do this if you don't want," she assured the child.

Faith smiled at her kneeling aunt before her. "It's okay, I'm not afraid, Aunt Blaze," she promised.

Blaze smiled and stroked her cheek. "You ready then, sweetheart?"

"Mhm!"

Blaze took Faith's hand and led her over to the coffee table Mighty had with the items they needed the spell to work—some lit candles, the broken pendant in its chalk-drawn pentagram, and an empty wooden bowl.

Blaze stepped inside the large spell circle Mighty had drawn out on the living room floor. "So, what do I need to do once I'm in there," she asked.

He walked over with a knife and the wooden bowl in hand. "First, I'm going to need some of your blood," he started. Blaze extended her arm out and opened up the palm of her hand. Mighty used the knife and glided it across her palm to make a large incision. Blaze hissed from the pain but then forced herself to make a fist and move her hand out sideways. Blood seeped between her closed palm and into the bowl.

Once he had collected enough blood, he pulled the bowl away and walked back over to his workstation where Faith waited patiently. "You have to look for some sort of memory that your husband would cling to. Think—where would Silver find refuge? It has to be somewhere that represents the fundamental basis of who he is," he explained.

She wrapped a brown bandage around her hand. "Right, got it," she nodded incomprehension.

"You just better hope it's somewhere good," he added. "Anyway, when you find it, draw him out and wake him up. However, be careful, because his mind is unstable," he forewarned.

Feeling suddenly nervous, Blaze got down on her butt on the floor and laid down on her back. Would she be able to succeed in this mission? "Aunt Blaze, you can do it!" Faith called out, breaking her self-doubt.

Blaze smiled at the sentimental thought of her niece. "I'm depending on you, Faith," Blaze announced. "Do your best to keep me in there long enough to find your uncle."

Faith showed an expression of determination and nodded with a huff. "I will!"

Mighty placed a hand on Faith's shoulder. "Alright, this is the perfect time to show me everything your aunt and I have taught you. I want you to keep your breathing steady, and repeat the exact same words that I chant, do you understand?"

Faith looked up at her mentor and nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, I understand."

"Hold a steady rhythm with each word." He took her hand in his and closed his eyes. Faith watched him and mimicked his actions. "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz," he chanted.

Faith began to chant the same words, holding a constant sync with her mentor. "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz." The broken pendant on the table began to glow brightly, and Blaze could feel her spirit shifting inside her, going to a higher plane. She closed her eyes and concentrated, ready to be connected to Silver's mind.

She heard a loud shriek and suddenly opened her eyes. When they were open, she sat up and found herself in a strange new environment. She turned her body around to adjust to her unique setting and got to her feet. She was now located in a stark white hallway with thousands upon thousands of different colored doors. The hallway looked endless to the point she could not see an end to it.

Slowly walking down the deserted white hallway, she looked at the different colored doors on either side of her. Some of them remained a stark white with only a simple detailed door décor on the front, while others held more character. She stopped at one door that had a candleholder and lit candlestick on the front. "Come on, Silver…where, are you?" she mumbled. She studied the front of the door for a long time before taking a deep breath and opening it up.

Once she walked inside, she noticed the room looked oddly familiar. It happened to be her old apartment complex and her old bedroom. Inside, she watched as Silver passionately made love to a younger version of herself. Standing awkwardly in the doorway to her old bedroom, Silver was in the middle of making passionate love with her. She watched Silver thrust in great strides, bringing her past counterpart great satisfaction.

Blaze felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she watched the version of herself gasp and moan in euphoria. Then it suddenly hit her; this was Silver's memory of when they had first made love. Perhaps this was where Silver had made refuge—to a sweet first-moment memory.

Taking a step further in the bedroom, Blaze swallowed the lump in her throat. "Si-Silver?" She continued to approach the bed when she got no response slowly. Perhaps he didn't hear her. "Silver," she called out again.

This time Silver's thrusts stopped, and she watched as he craned his neck to look over his shoulder at her. Blaze froze in place, believing he was looking straight at her, but suddenly he and the entire room disappeared. Realizing this was not where his spirit had laid refuge, she backed out of the room and ended up back in the hallway.

"One door down, only a thousand more to go…" Blaze began to walk further down the hall until her eye caught a slightly terrifying looking one. The door was painted entirely red. There were significant scratch marks and nicks taken out of the paint on parts of it, and she swore she could hear a female screaming behind it. Feeling the hair rise on the back of her neck, she kept walking, hoping to try another door before going back to that one. It seemed like a rather violent memory.

Blaze stopped in front of another door, but this one was just a plain white door. She hoped for the best and opened it up. When she entered, she realized she was now in the back garden of their estate. She watched as she Silver held an unconscious version of herself after her battle with Lightning Lynx from a few months ago.

"Oh yeah, this was after Finitevus tried to go after Faith," Blaze spoke softly. She walked further down the hill to get a better look at the sight play out.

She smiled to herself, seeing how loving Silver was looking down at the old version of herself. He stroked the top of her head lovingly. Clearing her throat, Blaze hoped maybe this was where Silver's subconscious was hiding. "Um, Silver. It's me, Blaze."

Once again, Silver responded to Blaze's call with an ear twitch. She watched him look around in puzzlement by the strange phenomena. "It's me," she tried again. Once again, the two made eye contact, but eventually, he vanished into thin air along with the rest of the memory. "Damn it…" she cursed.

•~•

Back with the other couple, Amy and Shadow entered an abandoned bar in the city. The two walked around the old place looking for any signs of the last dagger until Amy saw a haunting sight. "Sonic!" she exclaimed. Shadow's eyes followed his wife's figure as she rushed over behind a flipped table where Sonic's unconscious body laid. She knelt down and pressed her fingers up against the side of his neck to feel for a pulse. There was a pause as Shadow eagerly awaited to hear of the news of their ally.

She looked over to Shadow and pulled her hand away. "He's alive, but he's just been knocked out."

"Wonder what brought faker out to these parts?" Shadow contemplated.

Suddenly Sonic bolted upright with a shocking gasp. Amy jumped back, startled in surprise. Collecting himself, Sonic looked back and forth between Shadow and Amy as he caught his breath. He placed a hand to his chest. "Ames, Shadow? What are you guys doing here?"

"Peculiar place for a nap, don't you think, Sonic?" Shadow smirked, avoiding answering his question.

Amy lent him a hand and pulled him to his feet. "Well, we're searching for those poisoned weapons Infinite created. We've found one of them held by some of Infinite's supporters, we burned it, and now we're on the hunt for the last one. We just so happened to stumble across your body, but the real question is, what are you doing in here?"

"I'm here because Caleb still hasn't recovered from Infinite's possession. He's sick right now. So sick, he might not make it through the rest of the day," he answered solemnly.

"Caleb's still not woken up?" Amy asked sadly and in surprise by the reveal.

Sonic shook his head sadly. "No, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get him back to health."

"Then how about we do this. Help us get the final dagger, and we'll assist you in saving your beloved pack member. The more of us against him, the better the odds," Shadow wagered.

Sonic gave the other hybrid a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

•~•

Back with Blaze, the feline had gone through her fair share of doors and had come up empty-handed every time. Coming out of another failed doorway, she entered the white hallway and turned her head when she heard the noisy red doorway from before. There was something oddly familiar about this door; perhaps she had seen it before. She stood before it before having an epiphany of what this door represented.

~Flashback~

Silver stared at his piping hot cup of coffee for a moment. "When I was a young boy, I witnessed a pig get slaughtered at our farm. We had a barn with a bright red door where it took place behind. Ever since then, I've always associated death with that door. Because of that, my mother created this section in my mind where I would store horrid acts that I committed behind it."

~End Flashback~

Blinking and coming back to reality, Blaze swallowed another hard lump in her throat. Would this be a place that Silver would find refuge in? She remembered Silver telling her of all the violent acts he had committed over his lifetime. She also recalled this is where the darker version of himself lived—the one he had recently been letting peek out to cope with their current situation. Her hand outstretched towards the doorknob and shook as it hovered over the handle. "Please don't be in here…" she prayed.

Trying to build some inner confidence, she walked inside, and the door closed softly behind her leaving her in utter darkness. From the bit that she could see thanks to the moon's natural light, she was in some barn. As she navigated through the darkness, her nostrils picked up the scent of hay, freshly split blood, and also the smell of rotting corpses. She stifled the disgusting odor with the back of her sleeved arm to hold herself from retching. She spotted a figure moving under the cast of the moon shining through the barn window. She could tell it was feeding on a once-living thing and cautiously approached it. "…Silver? I'm here to help you," she called out softly.

The figure looked up, showcasing its illuminated amber eye and discarded the limp body of a young female rabbit, allowing her body to clunk on the farm floor beside it. The being stood erect, looking her dead in the eyes and not in a compassionate manner. Gulping nervously, Blaze took a step back and turned her head slightly, only to realize he had now appeared directly behind her. She spun around to face him with a gasp, now able to see him in the moonlight a lot better. His face was smeared with fresh blood, and he held a stoic look that held no kindness, especially in his yellow eyes. "Silver…"

Realizing that he wasn't looking at her in the way the other two apparitions had behind the other doors, Blaze began to feel sick to her stomach. She was coming to realize she was now facing the dark version of her husband, the one that was indeed a monster. "Uh, hey," she waved, backing up again. "Silver, it's me. Wake up!" she pleaded.

Silver said no words and instead sauntered towards her with a steady stride. Blaze quickened the pace of her retreat. "Silver," she called out again, growing panicked. "Stop. Stop!"

Seeing he was not heeding her warnings, she had no choice but to flee from the barn. She ran out into the darkened woods, hoping to evade him, but if she had to be honest with herself, she knew she was in deep trouble.

•~•

Back in the real world at the estate, both Faith and Mighty were continuing to uphold the spell. The two witches stood side by side with their eyes closed as they chanted the same mantra in unison. "Tillate ulaz, tillate ulaz…"

On the floor still in the spell circle a foot in front of them, Blaze's body was again knocked unconscious linked to Silver's subconscious. Everything looked fine in their perspective. However, little did they know that Blaze's life was in jeopardy.

•~•

Behind the red door, Blaze was now wholly disoriented and lost in the middle of the woods in this memory. Out of breath, terrified, and tired, Blaze stumbled over tree roots and small ditches. She quickly pressed her back against one of the large oak trees hoping to catch her breath. She knew she needed to keep moving because it would only be a matter of moments before Silver would appear.

Blaze recalled that Silver had told her that when he was at this stage of his vamprisim, that he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. He would enjoy mentally toying with his victims before going in for the kill. Being able to take a breather for a moment Blaze decided to keep running. She moved away from the tree just when she heard a twig crunch in the distance behind her. She looked behind the tree only to see Silver standing there menacingly in the far distance.

Screaming in horror, Blaze felt her adrenaline spike and began to sprint in the opposite direction. Silver did not run but kept a steady paced walk, knowing it would not be long before he captured her. Blaze panted as she ran for her life in the darkened woods and suddenly felt more terrified than she had ever felt in her entire life. This thing looked like her husband—and technically it was, but what she was dealing with right now was a sociopathic, robotic, killing machine. He would show no mercy towards her once he caught her.

"Mighty!" she screamed out in desperation, hoping he'd hear her cries. "Might-"

THUD.

She tripped over something and scraped up the palm of her hand pretty badly. Hissing in pain, she rolled over onto her side and looked behind her to see what she had tripped over. She gasped when she noticed a decapitated female head along with its severed limps. Blaze cried out in horror at the atrocity before her. Silver had done this. The body of the poor girl was mutilated to bits.

Suddenly, she got to her feet and looked over and noticed Silver standing just in front of the body he had recently killed. He stared her down, making Blaze feel like he was eying her as a fresh meal. "Silver…please, don't do this. I'm your wife!"

Silver said no words and raced towards her making her scream.

•~•

Back in reality again, Mighty and Faith were still working on keeping the spell upheld, but Faith cracked one of her eyes open when she noticed Blaze's unconscious body flailing around within the spell circle. "Aunt Blaze," she cried out in concern.

"Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz," Mighty stopped his chanting and opened his eyes. "Faith," he yelled. "Get back here!"

Faith ignored him and entered the circle and knelt to her aunt and placed a hand on her arm. Blaze continued to thrash her body around in the spell circle, looking pained in expression. "Please, Mr. Mighty, you need to help her. She's getting hurt!"

"I can see that." Silver rushed over to the young pink witch. "But Faith, I need you to focus on maintaining the spell."

Blaze began to shake even more violently, thrashing her head from side to side.

Faith's eyes grew wide in fear. "Come back, Aunt Blaze, come back!" she pleaded, trying to wake her.

Mighty grabbed ahold of his student and held her by the shoulders. "Faith, look at me," he commanded. The little pink hedgehog looked up at her teacher, feeling her eyes tear up. "If we don't maintain the spell, we could lose her in there."

Faith didn't look as sure of his words and shook her head. "No, let me help. I can keep it up and save her," she assured.

Mighty thought for a quick moment as a thought crossed his mind. "Look, I need you to trust me. This is what we're going to do. I'm going to put you inside the pendant, and once you're in there, I need you to call out to your aunt, okay? I won't be able to keep you in there for very long. You'll have to come back out to help me."

Faith nodded, comprehending what her teacher was telling her. Seeing she agreed to his decision, he continued the explanation to his plan. "Once you're in there do not touch anything. Do you understand?" he explained sternly.

She wiped her teary eyes. "Yes, I understand," she replied.

"Good," he smiled. He moved out of the spell circle and walked back over to his workstation. "Lay down next to your aunt and hold her hand."

Obliging, Faith did as instructed. "I'm coming, Aunt Blaze," Faith promised. "Just hold on a little longer."

Mighty held up both of his arms and took a deep breath and exhaled. He closed his eyes and began the chant again, but this time solo. "Tillste ulaz, tillate ulaz…" The pendant on the table started to shine brightly again.

Just like Blaze had experienced, Faith opened her eyes and was now in the same stark white hallway within Silver's mind. She slowly walked down the hall, looking at the doors on either side of her. "Aunt Blaze? I'm here!" she called out, but got no response.

Meanwhile, behind the red door, her insane husband was currently devouring her. Blaze cried out in pain as he dug his fangs into the side of her neck as he forced her up against a tree. She banged on his back with both her fists, doing her best to pry him off to no avail. Her sobs were doing no help in aiding her release either. "Stop," she gasped. "Please. Stop." She was starting to lose hope in her survival. Perhaps this would be her end.

Suddenly, Silver pulled his mouth away when he heard another voice in the distance. "Aunt Blaze, where are you?" it echoed through the forest.

Realizing it was her niece, Blaze smiled in relief. "Faith!" she screamed out to her best ability. "Stay there!" Feeling another surge of willpower and strength, Blaze mumbled an incantation that shoved Silver off her and slammed him into a tree. This gave her some time to make a break for it and exit the horrific memory. Blaze ran back towards where she believed the exit would be. "Faith," she screamed out again.

In the hallway, Faith jumped when she heard her aunt cry out her name in a distant scream. She stood just outside the notorious red door and stared up at it. Blaze smiled in relief when she spotted the farm—she was almost there. However, her excitement was short-lived when she felt someone grab her from behind and throw her up against the wall of the farm. Crying out in pain, she fell onto the ground with another thud.

Faith stood on the other side of the door helplessly, hearing a loud crash and her aunt screaming in horror. "Oh, no…"

Only feet away from the exit, Blaze wrestled with her husband as he held her down in the dirt just outside the barn. "Get off of me," she shouted. Silver backhanded Blaze, making a loud slap as his hand came in contact with her face. She cried out, feeling the hot sting.

In the hallways, Faith had heard her aunt suffering enough. She closed her eyes and outstretched her hands on either side of her. "Aunt Blaze!" she bellowed, making the walls of the subconscious shake and vibrate.

Silver staggered backward off of Blaze and suddenly felt his mind clear. He blinked in befuddlement of his whereabouts before looking at a figure lying on the floor before him, scratched up, bloody, and dirty. It was his wife—Blaze. He looked down at his tarnished, bloody hands realizing that he had done this to her. "…Blaze?" he spoke, looking at her in confusion.

Blaze quickly got to her feet and ran past her puzzled husband and out through the red door where she was met with her young niece. Faith's expression beamed in excitement when she spotted her aunt alive and thriving. The two embraced—reunited and eventually pulled apart. Faith looked at her aunt. "Are you okay?"

She exhaled a shaky sigh. "Yes, I'm okay."

Faith looked around the empty hallway. "Where's Uncle Silver?"

"—I'm right here," a voice said from behind her. The two looked at the red door where Silver stepped out of it, now looking clean-cut and put together in his Sauvé business casual outfit.

Blaze moved Faith slightly behind her while she kept her eyes locked on her unpredictable husband. "You need to leave, Faith. It's not safe."

"No, no," Silver assured quickly waving his hands out in front. "It's okay now; it's me."

Feeling her gut tell her that he was telling the truth, Blaze relinquished her protective hold over her niece. "Go home, Faith. Tell Mighty that it's safe to fix the pendant."

Nodding, Faith moved away from her aunt and uncle and closed her eyes. She placed her hand hands together, so both palms were touching. "Release."

With that, she vanished from sight, leaving just Blaze and Silver alone together in the hall. Finally apart, Silver took a step forward only for Blaze to shift her gaze to the floor and take a step back. Silver could see she was still shaken from the events that had just taken place. Silver's ears fell, and he felt his gut wrench, and he reached out towards her. "Please, forgive me."

•~•

In the real world, both Mighty and Faith were now in the process of fixing the broken pendant together. The two witches held their hands out over the shattered pieces of the gem, watching it glow brightly as they mended it together. "Leigheas brotin. Leigheas brotin." Miraculously, the pendant's pieces formed together and created one.

Suddenly, on the floor in front of them, Blaze shot upright finally reunited with the real world. She gasped as she placed a hand to her chest. "Yay, Aunt Blaze!" Faith cheered happily. The little pink hedgehog ran over and embraced her aunt again.

Smiling, Mighty jogged over and knelt in front of his feline friend. "You did it, Blaze. You saved him."

•~•

Blaze held the pendant in her hand, eying it in deep thought. Walking into the bedroom, Shadow eyed his sister-in-law. "From what I heard, you saved the day."

Blaze looked up and towards the doorway where the handsome black and red hedgehog stood. "Did you guys finish what needed to be done?" she inquired, shifting the focus.

"Yes, Amy, Sonic and I managed to find and destroy all the blades. We also managed to whip up some herbal concoction with some of my blood to see if it'll help Caleb's illness. Only time will tell," he explained.

"Oh, I see. It sounds like you did a lot of good work today," she replied.

"Me, I wouldn't take all the credit today for good work. I heard a lot of positive things about you today from Mighty," he smiled sincerely at her, despite her dour look. "Good work today," he commended.

Her ears fell flat against her head. "I wouldn't say that." Her eyes went to the floor. "He's not back yet."

"You can't just drop him into another body?" he suggested, walking further into the room.

She shook her head. "I can't risk it, not after what he's been through today. His original body is where he belongs, and now that his mind is stable within the pendant, I can bring him back. I need a large enough sacrifice."

Shadow smirked in thought and plopped down on the sofa across the seat she was sitting in. "You're thinking what I'm thinking, then?"

Her eyes made contact with his. "Kill Infinite and save my husband," she replied in assumption.

He nodded sinisterly and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I'm happy to do the dirty work for you."

She slumped further back in her seat. "I have no doubt you would," she replied, still looking somewhat melancholy.

Sensing her desolate mood, Shadow shifted the conversation back onto his brother. "So," he began, his tone softening. "I heard you ventured into my brother's shattered mind and it wasn't all unicorns and rainbows inside."

Fumbling with her hands nervously, she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Yes…I-I went through the infamous Red door," she admitted quietly.

His interest peaked. He could only imagine what she may have seen. "And what took place inside?" he inquired.

"I tried to save him but the things I saw, the innocent people, the slaughter. The look in his eyes—he had no empathy," she described in disgust and horror. "He tried to kill me in there. He didn't recognize me…"

His expression softened. "…Blaze."

"I thought I would find him in a good place, a good memory, but he chose the darkest part of himself… The worst part of all of this, I wasn't the one to snap him out of it. Faith saved us both."

He sighed. "Look, Blaze, you know what both of us are," Shadow worded carefully. "We're all monsters. We've committed countless atrocities over the years, but Silver has done most of the atrocities for family, which is why he is the very best of us. Even you know that Silver is terrified of that version of himself, so terrified he made our mother force him to forget about it," he reminded.

Blaze stood up and walked away. Looking confused at first, Shadow rose to his feet to mimic her actions and followed behind her, but he turned surprised when her pair of arms embraced him for a hug. Feeling her shake in his arms from her trauma, Shadow wrapped his arms around her, giving her the solace she scouted for. "What is Silver is right, and that really is who is at his core?"

•~•