Chapter 5: Stories

It takes Sonic a moment after waking up to remember where he is, and he groans softly upon seeing the underside of an old bunk bed and remembering that he's in a submarine who-knows-how-far deep beneath the ocean. His conversation with Amy before resting plays back through his mind, pangs of guilt poking at his heart. Sonic stands and limbers up, his joints cracking as he stretches. He's starting to feel a bit hungry, so he decides to head over to the kitchen, remembering the directions Amy had given to Ivory earlier.

The kitchen is a small, utilitarian room with a wall packed with a number of culinary devices, mechanical and somewhat difficult to discern their purpose compared to their home cooking equivalents. A small, fold-out table separates the cooking area from the eating area, where chairs pop up from the floor. A large human man stands at the kitchen side of the room, his hair mostly white and with kindly wrinkles around his eyes. He seems to barely fit in the kitchen, as if it were designed for people half his size. He's engaging a very drowsy-looking Ivory in spirited conversation.

"Sonic!" Ivory perks up a little as Sonic enters, gazing at him with pleading eyes.

"Sonic?" the older gentleman says, his voice graveled and low. "I've heard all about you from Captain Rose, and from this girlie too. I'm Harris, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"All good things, I'm sure," Sonic says with a smirk. "And nice to meet you, too."

"I was just telling wee Ivory about this here vessel."

Ivory's eye twitches. Sonic raises an eyebrow.

"That sounds interesting."

"Ah, very, I promise. I can get you up to speed so you can join in, if you'd like."

Ivory gesticulates at Sonic. She wants him to say no, to give her an excuse to leave, it seems like she'd been there for a while listening to his story, never finding a good moment to leave. Sonic winks at her and gives a thumbs up. Ivory deflates with relief.

"Sounds good to me, getting up to speed is kind of my thing," Sonic says, looking right at her.

Ivory narrows her eyes and traces her thumb across her throat. Sonic holds back a laugh, his eyes watering a little. Harris' eyes sparkle. Sonic grabs a piece of bread from the counter to snack on and sits down.

"Good lad!" He lets out a hearty chuckle. "So, this here is the RAS Absolution . It was once a research vessel before being sold to the navy back during the Western Sea War, and it's unique on account of it being one of the few vessels in deployment designed for shortie critter-folk like you, rather than human-folk. That's why I can hardly stand up in 'ere!"

Sonic nods, taking a bite of his roll. Ivory rests her head on her arms.

"What's interesting about this here boat is its first mission, some forty years ago." Harris lowers his voice and waggles his fingers. "It was led by Ironside T. Turtle, the first non-human to achieve the rank of Captain in the Republic military. Ironside was a stalwart fellow, stocky and hardened, he had an aged wisdom about him, but he hardly ever spoke aside from issuing his orders. He was given helm of The Absolution for its maiden voyage due to his dependability during his previous deployments. Even so, the maiden voyage of The Absolution would prove quite the challenge to even him."

Sonic shifts a little closer. He was actually interested. Ivory seemed to be falling asleep.

" They dove into the briny depths of the sea, in order to flank the enemy fleet that was closing in on the middle isle. The Absolution was holding up well to the pressure, and it passed every system check, but one of the checks wasn't performed properly. There was an engineer who had worked with the captain for a long time before, and since this was the captain's first mission after his promotion, he didn't want to disappoint him. He decided he'd try to fix the problem himself, before anyone noticed, as it seemed like something simple he could handle himself.

Alas, he took too long and the problem went unnoticed until it was almost too late: the ballast pump started to break as the tank took on more water. This means they could go down, but they couldn't go up until they got it fixed. So, Old Ironside being ever the cautious one, he halted the mission as soon as the issue was brought to his attention.

So, there they were, sitting in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by nothing but dark blues. Then, the ship began to creak and shake.

The portholes went dark, and the crew began to panic.

Something had grabbed onto the submarine, something gargantuan, something impossible.

It was a creature out of time, from Earth's distant past, desperately clinging to a tiny pocket of unchanged ocean in the deep: some manner of giant cephalopod, awakened from its slumber by The Absolution 's proximity. It wrapped its tendrils around her, and was in the process of squeezing her, if nothing would be done, she would become a crumpled husk of a thing. Metal groaned under its force.

Ironside led a small group out into the depths with pressure suits and armed with harpoon guns. For what seemed like hours and hours they fought, their air tanks grew lighter and lighter.

From the window you could see the writhing limbs, grabbing men and flailing them around like they were nothing. Ironside, grabbed and struggling, readied his harpoon at the tip of the arm that was wrapped around his ankle.

He fired his weapon, and the harpoon sliced the tentacle's tip clean off. It let out a cry, a sound like nobody had ever heard before, an ear piercing squeal with a low chord that rattled the bones. Then it untangled itself from The Absolution , and it scattered to god-knows-where.

When Old Ironside came back through the airlock, the tentacle was still stuck around his ankle, they had to saw it off with a pipe-cutter. The bones in his ankle were shattered, and he would walk for a limp for the rest of his life.

If only that engineer had brought the ballast issue up with someone, instead of trying to fix it himself!

After the mission ended, that stupid engineer was wracked with guilt for his mistake, and he was going to ask to be transferred or dismissed. Old Ironside stopped him. He said the way to make up for his mistakes, to earn forgiveness, was to learn, to never make the same decision again, to become better. "

Harris pauses, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"And that was a lesson I never forgot! 'Coz I was that stupid engineer!" Harris slaps his knee and lets out a loud guffaw.

Sonic snorts. He wasn't sure if he'd admit to it so openly if he ever made a mistake like that, he's a little impressed.

"Aye, well, it looks like I've bored the poor girl half to death."

Sonic looks over at Ivory, collapsed over her crossed arms, breathing softly.

"I'll make sure she gets to the bunks." Sonic pauses. "I liked your story, by the way."

"I'm glad! I hope you got something out of it, too."

Sonic tilts his head at the odd man, before moving over to Ivory. He taps her shoulder until she groans and swats his hand away. Eventually he coaxes her up and she walks drearily with him over to the living quarters, and collapses onto one of the beds.

Sitting on the bed across the room from Ivory, Sonic stares at the door. There's a slight tilt to the submarine that makes the floor lurch down in front of him, as if he's going to fall.

He can't help but think about Amy, and their conversation earlier. Having it end like it did left a pit in Sonic's stomach. She's one of his oldest friends, he'd met her even before he did Tails, though they wouldn't become all that close until later.

Amy was right. Something was going on, weighing on Sonic's head like nothing else, however he tried to push it out of his mind. They'd been through a lot together, he knows that she would understand, that she cares about him, but the fact that she cares about him made it all the harder for him to tell her, because he knows exactly what she'll say. She'd tell him to slow down, for his own sake, for the sake of his body. She'd ask him to do the one thing that he can't.

At the same time, Amy deserves to know, as a friend, or even as someone he's fighting alongside. Even if she tells him exactly what he knows she will, even if she'll be angry when he refuses, he knows he has to at least tell her.

Sonic knows he has to, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to. Sonic can run at impossible speeds, defeat godlike beings, but a simple conversation is the thing he really struggles with. It's almost funny. He glances at Ivory, sprawled inelegantly on her back with her mouth gaping open, dead to the world. He bets that in his shoes, she'd be able to say what's on her mind.

Maybe it's that vague sense of competitiveness that finally drives Sonic to stand and make his way back to the captain's quarters. The narrow hallways seem especially long and tight as he retraces his steps. He stands in front of the door, his fist hovering just inches away from its surface. A lump grows in his throat. The air circulation whirrs and he can hear every footstep from every person aboard as their sound reverberates through the metal flooring. Sonic knocks.

The door creaks open and he comes face to face with Amy. She smiles a little. Sonic really looks at her for the first time since he boarded The Absolution . Age hasn't washed all of her youthful cuteness away, but there's an unshakable maturity in her eyes that he'd never really noticed before. She too has grown up.

"Do you have something to say, or are we just going to keep staring longingly into each other's eyes?" Amy quips.

"I, uh, wanted to apologize."

"Twice in one day? There must be a blue moon."

"Funny. Can I come in?"

Amy pulls the door open and gestures inside. Stiffly, Sonic steps inside and leans against the wall. Amy closes the door again. Sonic takes a deep breath, searching for the right words, none come. He can't bring himself to tell her, not yet. He remembers something Amy said earlier.

"What happened on Sol Day? Are you and Blaze okay?"

"I thought you were apologizing."

"I know, I know, just… I want to tell you something, it's just…" Sonic trails off.

Amy rolls her eyes and smiles. She leans against the desk.

"No, I get it. We'll take turns, then."

Sonic looks away, scratching at his neck. Amy sighs.

"I thought things were going well at first, Blaze was absolutely beautiful during the fire dance and I was getting along with Marine," she starts. "But, after the feast, Blaze just got really distant all of a sudden."

Staring at the floor, Amy holds her hands together, rubbing her palm with her thumb.

"I asked what was wrong, and she was like 'Is this working?' and I was like 'Is what working?' and she said 'Us.' I was taken aback, I thought things were going great between us, and I started to get a little scared."

Her voice gets quiet. Sonic shifts a little closer to her, wanting to be of some comfort, but not quite knowing how. He stays silent while she talks.

" She looked like she was about to cry, so I moved to hold her hand, but she pulled away. Sure, I had been kind of clingy the whole time I was there, but she hadn't been that standoffish since we first met. You know how she was.

'How long are we going to be this way?' Blaze asked.

'What way? Together? Please just tell me what's going on.'

'I need some time to think," she said.

Then, she seemed to disappear in a puff of flame.

I gave her time. She was missing for an entire day of festivities, I had to tell everyone that she wasn't feeling well. The next morning I still didn't see her, and by then I was starting to get really frustrated. I decided to track her down. Luckily, I knew where she probably was.

There's this secluded cliff overlooking the beach. We watched the sunset there together when I first came to visit, it's one of the most gorgeous views on the island. She had told me she liked to go there when she needed to clear her head.

It was a bit of a hike to get to the spot, but I got there, and lo and behold, Blaze was just where I suspected, sitting cross-legged and staring out at the ocean. I sat down next to her, and for a while, neither of us said anything. I eventually broke the silence.

'Talk to me, love. Did something go wrong at dinner yesterday?'

She sighed in this way I didn't like.

'Nothing went wrong at dinner. Dinner was… perfect. Eating with you, seeing you laugh and talk to Marine and the rest. It was everything I've wanted for a while.'

I was confused, if it was perfect, what was wrong?

'Wouldn't you rather be with someone you can eat with every day? Someone who is a constant part of your life? Wouldn't you be happier?'

At that point, I was fighting back tears. I didn't have the best reply.

"Is that what you want?" I asked her. I must have sounded like I was accusing her or something.

"It's not about me."

What did she mean by that? Of course it was about her.

She came back with me afterwards for the last day of festivities, but what she said hung over us for the rest of the time I was there. It kind of put a damper on the whole trip."

Amy pauses, looking back up at Sonic.

"I'm usually better at reading people, but she really was more worried about me than herself. It's kind of a problem how much she does that sometimes, she doesn't always get that she's important too. I only realized afterwards that I didn't make it clear enough how I feel. I don't care about the physical distance between us. " Amy smiles sadly. "You know, I haven't actually felt this way about anyone in a long time, not since, well…"

She blushes. Sonic smirks.

"That was never going to happen, don't take it too hard," he says with a wink.

"Trust me. I'm over you, Sonic. Besides, aren't you—"

"I prefer not to put a label on it." Sonic never gets used to defining himself within a pre-set identity, it doesn't feel right when he says it even if he matches the description. "Anyway, what are you going to do?"

Intertwining her fingers, Amy gazes upwards.

"I'm going to write to her. It's going to be flowery and heartfelt and embarrassing."

Sonic can't help but chuckle softly.

"That's so like you."

Amy smirks, then looks him dead in the eye.

"Alright, I've said my part. It's your turn now."

Sonic gulps. There's no turning back now. He can't even think of a way to delay it any further. He needs to rip the band-aid off and get it over with. He takes a deep breath.

"So, I was visiting Tails last year, and they wanted to run some—"

Metal creaks sharply.

"What was that?" Sonic asks, his heartbeat spiking.

Amy stands straight.

The Absolution shudders as its frame groans and rattles. Amy slams the door open and runs to the left. Sonic follows. They reach the bridge where the crew shouts indistinctly while wrestling with controls. Alarms blare and bathe everything in flashing red. The screen at the front displays the feed from a camera on the outside of the ship. It's almost completely dark, with an odd dotted pattern.

The pattern rolls upwards like a fleshy curtain, revealing behind it an enormous glassy eye.

Its stare is strange and alien, like it knows things beyond comprehension, as if it sees everything in a drastically different way. The dark of its pupil seems gray, maybe its sight is fading with age.

Harris' voice rasps from behind Sonic.

"Dear god, it's back."