Part II: Burns

The city's making me cry.

My heart is singing songs of sadness.

For the sake of the ones I love,

Why can't this war stop?

Sonic was finally sixteen.

Every spirit that ruled the land heard it. Great god of light Apollo and his twin sister Artemis sat on their thrones, wondering what to do with him now. It would be only a few more years before Robotnik's rein of terror would end and the world would be free of his treachery. But, that was a long way to go. And Sonic had many quests ahead of him before he could complete the task he'd been born to do.

Apollo had gave him the temperamental drive that fueled his being, and so gave him loyalty and such other things. Apollo had been his guide from the beginning, but Artemis was nowhere near his side. Great goddess of the moon, however she hated to admit it, needed him now. Her beautiful city of the East, Moonshine Land, was being ruled by an evil dictator who had fallen from good to evil and had lost favor with her.

"Brother?" She said, going to Apollo one day. "What will you do about Moonshine Land?"

Apollo waved a hand over Sonic, making him hit a note on his guitar he'd been going to miss. "Hmmm," said he, looking upon Sonic with love. Though Sonic in no way believed in any sort of "God", he had not lost favor with Apollo. "I know not, dear sister. What do you propose?"

Artemis saw the opportunity to rid herself of the blue spiny hedgehog her brother loved dearly. "Send Sonic."

Apollo gasped and nearly upset his globe which he used to watch Sonic, making the hedgehog strike a wrong note in his haste. "Not he!" The god of light growled.

"Why not? After all," Artemis hopped on her throne and swung her legs, petting her most faithful hunting hound. "He doesn't adore you as much as you adore him. In fact, he hardly believes!"

"It doesn't matter!" Apollo defended him. "He is like my son in a way, for his parents helped to keep my ruling spirit alive while all the other Olympians died. His mother, though she wasn't a virgin, was devoted to you and helped keep you alive. Why should I not love their son? Why do you not love him?"

"I have no tolerance for those who do not worship." Artemis took her brother's golden arrow of pain and cocked it in her bow. "Send him to save my city or I'll strike him down now!"

"Sister," Apollo breathed. "You know he is the one that will save the world we know."

"You can find someone else," Artemis shrugged, already having a perfect lock on Sonic's rapidly-beating heart. "Gotchya."

"Okay, okay!" Apollo pleaded. "I'll send him, I'll send him! Just please don't harm him!"

Artemis smirked and hugged her brother. "Thank you, Apollo."

"Yeah, yeah," replied the god, sending a message on the wings of the wind to his beloved "son".

~16~16~16~

I looked up at the city gates far above my head. A sign stretched across the two powdery white Greek columns cheerfully bid me welcome to Moonshine Land. The sky was dark. A crescent moon graced this with pale silver light. Stars twinkled above my head.

I yawned in spite of myself. This instant darkness was quickly making me sleepy and I longed to know the time.

As if answering my request, a clock chimed the hour. It made me literally jump, for the sound seemed to come from under me. After clinging to one of the columns fearfully for a few long seconds, I slid down it fireman-style and observed what I was standing on.

It was a beautiful clock, with fancy numbers I had trouble deciphering and a full moon complete with craters shining behind it. I was afraid to stand on it, for it was so beautiful. I shook my head rapidly back and forth, stretching my sleepy limbs, and peeked into the city. I thought the clock struck noon, not midnight.

There were very few people in the streets. Many were peering into shop windows, mostly small families with two or three children. The parents, all of various species (even humans!), often had their faces pressed against the shop windows, looking greedily at the hams and steaks hanging in the window. My tongue wet my lips, but I could ignore my own meager needs for now.

I noticed that the children sat at their parents' feet, playing tidily-winks with pebbles and blades of grass. It seemed to be around noon, for some people were having lunches on park benches. I observed a toddler chase a bird from its resting place. Even though it would appear nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the nighttime-like darkness, it was so eerily quiet that I feared my own footfalls would cause echoes throughout the city!

My eyes were attracted to some strange rounded flowers on crescent-shaped stems. Curious, I traced my sight up the building, finding it rounded. Everything here was round like the moon, or crescent-shaped when being completely round was impossible, and I felt this strange, homey aura all around.

I stepped cautiously forward, only to find some glass picnic tables under awnings and brightly-colored umbrellas. A Doberman in an olive green uniform happened to be eating a sub. I followed my eyes towards a little raccoon boy, standing about ten feet from the uniformed dog, his eyes on the sub and his tail swishing in thought.

From where I was, I couldn't hear the exchange, which, I thought, was strange because the town was so quiet. The little boy seemed to ask something of the Doberman. The dog ordered him to get lost, but the raccoon took a step closer, asking for the sandwich. Instead of yelling at him, the Doberman drew a fearsome-looking gun and aimed right at the little boy. The child turned and ran, but the dog shot him in the back.

My ears flattened against my head as my fists clenched with anger. The mother and her two daughters tried to approach, but the dog held up the gun again, making the parents stay at bay. Then, a muscular bear in a similar olive-gray uniform beckoned to the Doberman. The dog laughed and went to join his compatriot.

When they were gone, I ran forward and examined the boy's wounds. It was a bullet, straight through his head. He wasn't breathing anymore; there was no hope of him gaining life again. I sighed, distressed that one so young had lost his life over something so stupid and glanced up at his family. "It's all right," I said, compelled to speak in whispers for fear the city might fall if I spoke any louder. "You can come and get your son now."

The three women moved forward.

I loved you yesterday,

Before you killed my family.

I watched the mother's eyes swell with tears as she picked up her son's bloody body. My eyes weren't on her, my emotions too strong to withstand losing someone, even one I didn't know.

The mother stood and bowed before me. "Thank you, sir."

"Yes, thank you," echoed the daughters, bowing as well.

I smiled. "It's no problem. Really."

"In return," the mother said, "let me tell you something. You must be inside a building or out of sight before nine. They will be merciless if you're not."

I nodded. "Thank you. I'll be careful."

"Please do!" The little girls echoed. "For your sake!" Then, they let their mother lead them away.

I took one final sweep of the city before deciding to chill out. I sniffed for the blood scent…but found it everywhere. My feet pounded against the circular tiles unendingly. Huffing and accepting that I was lost in this look-alike city where every corner you turned looked the same, I settled upon a rooftop and allowed myself to drift into slumber.

Lyrics from this chapter are Empty Walls by Serj Tankian. Thanks for reading!