Silver walked through the Main Hall of Sol Castle, and made his way into the hallways. He was suppose to be keeping an eye out for a suspicious intruder...

But his mind was heavily distracted. How could he possibly do his job when he had a crisis going on in his heart?

He stared up at all the pictures that hung in the hall. Many of them were of Blaze's ancestors, the former kings and queens. He came upon a familiar scene... the previous King and Queen of Sol, a family portrait with them and their young daughter, sitting on her mother's lap.

Those were the good times... back when they were children. Blaze was considered somewhat of an outcast, being the princess and accidentally igniting a flame now and then, which frightened other children away... but Silver, being the accepting soul he was, befriended the kitten and the two became nearly inseparable. Silver was given the privilege of visiting Sol Castle any time of day, any day of the week, just to play with Blaze, and other days she would leave the royal perimeters to walk down to his house for a visit. They ran with each other, they told secrets, they laughed, they explored, and sometimes they even just laid around in the garden in the castle's courtyard.

Then tragedy struck... An enemy attacked. The king was murdered, while the queen put up a good fight and defeated the opposing force, only to later die from her injuries. Sol needed a new leader, and Blaze was taken away from Silver. He could no longer drop by Sol Castle whenever he wanted, and rarely did she get a chance to go out and spend time with her friends. More often than not she was training for the throne, to control her powers, and to be a guardian of the Sol Emeralds.

Silver never forgot Blaze. As he grew older, he learned the importance of Blaze's job as princess and why she never was around anymore. He didn't want her to go at it alone. Even though he was only twelve at the time, he enlisted to become a soldier. Argyle and the other sergeants didn't take the boy seriously at first, but Blaze managed to convince them to allow him through.

The boy made incredible progress in a short amount of time, and was dubbed a soldier a year later. He was able to work with Blaze, do things for her...

But it was never the same. Blaze didn't seem to appreciate him as she did when they were children. If a task needed to be done, she simply asked him to do it. He did his best to bend over backwards for the feline princess, anything to make her happy. But she never appeared to notice, as she always wanted to do things on her own. She had become seriously loyal to her duty, raised to be independent and to take the whole world in her hands. That's why whenever he offered to take her out on a walk around the garden like old times, she always declined.

"I have no time to dilly-dally, Silver," she told him, "I have to guard the emeralds."

"Can't you just get Gardon to look after them for a moment while you take a breather?" he said, "C'mon, for old time's sake!"

Blaze only shook her head. "You're so naive, Silver... Those days are over."

Naive... That was just a nice way of her to call him dumb, worthless. That no matter what he did, it never amounted to anything in her eyes.

If only she would take it easy now and then...

No... that's not true. Actually, as of late, she was beginning to be more open about her feelings, becoming more laid back. Ever since...

Speak of the devil, there she was! Silver had walked past an open doorway, leading into a big den. He backed up slightly to look in. In the center on a pink couch, in front of a cozy fire, lost in a book was none other than...

"Blaze..."

The cat looked up. Did she hear him? She turned around on the couch, facing his direction, and smiled. Was she actually smiling at him??

"What a lovely surprise!" she spoke.

She was happy to see him?? Silver was ecstatic. He couldn't believe Blaze was showing affection to him. It was almost like old times! He took a step forward to return the greeting...

And quickly stepped back as a blue hedgehog jogged by, holding two mugs filled with hot cocoa, and made his way to the couch. He handed her a mug then plopped himself next to the cat as she snuggled into his side. "Sonic, you're too sweet."

Embarrassed, as well as crushed, Silver backed away and slunk down the hallway, head hung low, his hand softly scrapping against the wall.

He had to get some air, away from this scene. So he found the nearest door, taking him outside right to the garden, where he and Blaze used to play when they were younger.

Sonic the Hedgehog...

It was all because of him. Ever since their worlds merged into one, he always began hanging around Sol and spending all his time with Blaze. Blaze was finally beginning to change, all because of him. Silver had tried for many years to get Blaze to open up, to accept other people's help... and along comes Blue Hedgehog and does it in one night.

And worst yet... Blaze had become very close to him...

While everyone in the Main Hall that day applauded loudly for the two sharing their first kiss together, he had to be the only one there standing there in disbelief, feeling jealousy, heartbreak, the cold reality that struck him like a brick wall. It wasn't until then that Silver realized just how much Blaze meant to him. How much he longed for her, how he wished he was sitting on that couch right now, and hell even spending the night in her bedroom from time to time doing God knows what?

If only he knew earlier... if only he acted first...

If only... she'd notice him...

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Silver whipped around at the sound of the strange, unfamiliar voice. He held out his palms, ready for a psychic attack if needed. "Who're you??"

"No need to get so defensive," the woman responded, "My name is Juilana."

Silver stared hard at the stranger. She was a tall human with long, black hair, narrow eyes, and wore a flowing robe which looked like a dress all bundled up by her legs. She looked familiar to the hedgehog, and it finally hit him, "You're the intruder that got past me earlier!!"

Juilana gave an apologetic smile and raised her hands. "I'm sorry. Did I inconvenience you with that?" she mused.

Silver didn't drop his defense. "What do you want??"

"I could ask the same of you," the woman responded, gazing into Silver's yellow eyes, "You're eyes are full of lust. You're longing for something... or someone."

The silver-colored hedgehog grit his teeth, slightly embarrassed. "What's it to you??"

"Darling, I'm quite the sorceress," Juilana responded, "I can practically read your mind! But I'm no telekinetic like yourself. In fact, I'm lacking in a lot of areas. All I want is to strengthen my powers and become an even stronger sorceress." She grinned at the soldier, "If you help me, I can help you..."

Silver stared back up at her. There was something in the air that gave the sense of mistrust. But nevertheless... he was curious about what she could do for him. After a moment, he finally dropped his hands. "...What do you want me to do?"

"To be honest, I only got this far because of a slight fluke," Juilana explained. Silver's ears went pink, as she continued. "But I couldn't possibly get inside, what with all these soldiers on patrol. But you... You can get in anywhere, since you're a soldier yourself. All I need you to do is go in and get me the Jeweled Scepter."

"What??" Silver cried, shaking his head, "No, I can't do that to Blaze!"

Juilana rolled her eyes. "So you're happy with the way things are now? You choose to serve the princess... with nothing in return?"

Silver was silent. She got him there...

"I know you're in love with her," the sorceress continued, "Despite the fact that she longs for another." She seductively ran her hand through the hedgehog's hairstyle, "I can fulfill your heart's desire, if you do me this one task."

Silver narrowed his eyes. "How does getting you the scepter help me with Blaze?"

"You just leave that to me," said Juilana, "All you need to worry about is how far you're willing to go for love." She smirked, "Can you live with the idea of your one and only with some other guy? What other way can you possibly get her?"

Silver stopped to think for a moment. There was one possible way...

But it was like Juilana really could read his mind. She simply shrugged and looked away. "Well, I mean you could just walk up to her and tell her flat out that you love her, and she should just drop that blue meatball." She gave a short laugh, "It's so simple! Goodness, you're just wasting time with me! Go on, I'll just leave you alone." She stepped forward to walk away.

"No..."

Juilana stopped, and turned back to face Silver, who was staring down at the ground in hopelessness. "She wouldn't take me seriously..." he murmured, "She'd just call me naive like she always does..."

The woman smirked. "Well in that case, there's only one other way." She stared down at him. "Give me the scepter, and I'll take care of everything."

Silver looked away, still indecisive. "...I..."

-BREEP- -BREEP-

"Silver! Come in this instant, soldier!!"

Juilana narrowed her eyes and took a step back. Silver picked up his communicator. "Yes, general..?"

"What do you think you're doing away from your post, soldier?!" Argyle's angry voice roared from the other side, "Where are you??"

"I'm outside," Silver responded.

"What are you doing out there?! It better be important!!"

"I..." Silver glanced up at Juilana, hidden in the shadows of the oak tree, staring back, expecting Silver to announce the intruder. Silver twitched his nose. "I just needed some fresh air, that's all..."

"Well... When you're finished getting your fresh air, report to my quarters IMMEDIATELY! Argyle out!!"

Silver groaned as he put his God-forsakened communicator away. Juilana stepped from the shadows and approached the hedgehog. "Putting your job at risk..." she swooned, "Does that mean you want to help me?"

"It means I'd rather help you than serve under that guy," Silver responded.

The sorceress smirked once again. "How sweet. I will reward you handsomely, I promise. Right now, it clearly isn't wise for me to stay around." She waved her fingers, and a green globe of energy appeared in front of the two. "See this map? Right here is where we're currently located," she pointed to a white speck, "And over here on the far left are the mountains... where my hidden lair is. Once you grow tired of taking orders from General Jerk, drop by with the scepter anytime." She snuffed out the globe and disappeared into the shadows. "I'll be waiting, Silver..."

Silver watched as she disappeared. Well that took care of the intruder issue...

But now onto something even worse...